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"GENERAL  BUTLER  IN  NEW  ORLEANS. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ADMINISTRATION 


OF  THE 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF 


IN   THE    YEAR    1862 


"WITH 


AN  ACCOUNT   OF  THE   CAPTURE   OF  NEW   ORLEANS,   AND    A 

SKETCH    OF   THE   PREVIOUS   CAREER  OF  THE 

GENERAL,  CIVIL  AND  MILITARY. 


By  JAMES  PAKTON, 

AUTHOR  OF  THE   "  LIFE   AND  TIMES  OF  AARON  BURR,'1    "  LIFE  OF 
ANDREW  JACKSON,"   ETC.,   ETC. 


SIXTH      EDITION. 


NEW   YORK: 
MASON  BROTHERS,  5  &  1  MERCER  STREET. 

BOSTON:  MASON  &  HAMLIN.     PHILADELPHIA:  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  &  CO. 

LONDON:   D.  APPLETON   &  CO.,   16  LITTLE   BRITAIN. 

1864. 


cbtO 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1863, 

By  MASON  BEOTHEES, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  tha 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


•     •  •  ••  •  "  •*• 


O.   A.   ALVOED,  8TEEE0TYPER  AND  PRINTER. 


"Whatever   they   call   him,    what    care    I!- 
Aristocrat,    Democrat,    Autocrat,  —  one 
Who    can   rule   and   dare    not    lie." — Maud. 


**►.. 


V         1 


^  €*:- 


PREFACE 


It  can  not  be  necessary  to  apologize  for  an  attempt  to  relate 
the  history  of  the  most  remarkable  episode  of  the  war,  respecting 
which  opinions  so  violently  contradictory  are  expressed,  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  The  vindication  of  the  country  itself  seems  to 
require  that  a  policy  should,  at  least,  be  understood,  which  the 
country  has  accepted  as  just,  wise,  and  humane,  and  which  the 
enemies  of  the  country,  foreign  and  domestic,  denounce  as  arbi- 
trary, savage,  and  brutal. 

It  is,  however,  of  the  first  necessity  to  state  how  this  book  came 
to  be  written,  and  from  what  sources  its  contents  have  been  de- 
rived. 

In  common  with  the  other  devotees  of  the  Union  and  the  Flag, 
I  had  watched  the  proceedings  of  General  Butler  in  Louisiana 
with  interest  and  approval ;  and  shared  also  the  indignation  with 
which  they  regarded  the  perverse  misinterpretation  put  upon  his 
measures  by  the  faction  which  has  involved  the  Southern  States  in 
ruin,  and  by  their  "  neutral"  allies  abroad. 

Upon  the  return  of  General  Butler  to  the  North,  I  wrote  to  him, 
saying  that  I  should  like  to  write  an  account  of  his  administration 
of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  as  well  as  a  slighter  sketch  of  the 
previous  military  career  of  a  man  who,  wherever  he  had  been  era- 
ployed,  has  shown  an  ability  equal  to  the  occasion ;  but  that  this 
could  not  be  done,  and  ought  not  to  be  attempted,  without  his 
consent  and  co-operation. 

To  this,  the  general  thus  replied  : 

"  I  am  too  much  flattered  by  your  request,  and  will  endeavor  to 
give  you  every  assistance  in  the  direction  you  mention.     My  letter 


8  PBEFACE. 

and  order  books  shall  be  at  your  disposal,  as  well  as  the  official  and 
unofficial  correspondence  directed  to  me.  If  I  can,  by  personal  con- 
versation, elucidate  many  matters  wherein  otherwise  history  might 
be  a  perversion  of  the  truth,  I  will  be  at  your  service. 

"  One  thing  I  beg  shall  be  understood  between  us,  however  (as 
I  have  no  doubt  it  would  have  been  without  this  paragraph),  that 
while  I  will  furnish  you  with  every  possible  facility  to  learn  every- 
thing done  by  me  in  New  Orleans  and  elsewhere,  it  will  be  upon 
the  express  condition  that  you  shall  report  it  in  precisely  the  man- 
ner you  may  choose,  without  the  slightest  sense  of  obligation 
'aught  to  extenuate'  because  of  the  source  from  which  you  derive 
the  material  of  your  work ;  and  farther,  that  no  sense  of  delicacy 
of  position,  in  relation  to  myself,  shall  interfere  with  the  closest 
investigation  of  every  act  alleged  to  have  been  done  or  permitted 
by  me.  I  will  only  ask  that  upon  all  matters  I  may  have  the  privi- 
lege of  presenting  to  your  mind  the  documentary  and  other  evi- 
dences of  the  fact." 

I  had  not  the  pleasure  of  General  Butler's  personal  acquaintance, 
but  our  correspondence  ended  with  my  going  to  Lowell,  where  I 
lived  for  a  considerable  time  in  the  general's  own  house,  and  re- 
ceived from  him,  from  his  staff,  and  from  Mrs.  Butler,  every  kind 
of  aid  they  could  render  for  the  work  proposed.  We  talked  ten 
hours  a  day,  and  lived  immersed  in  the  multitudinous  papers  and 
letters  relating  to  the  events  which  have  excited  so  much  contro- 
versy. The  general  placed  at  my  disposal  the  whole  of  those  papers 
and  letters,  besides  giving  the  most  valuable  verbal  elucidations, 
and  relating  many  anecdotes  previously  unrecorded. 

Respecting  the  manner  in  which  the  material  should  be  used,  he 
did  not  then,  and  has  not  since,  made  a  single  suggestion  of  any 
kind.  He  left  me  perfectly  free  in  every  respect.  Nor  has  he  seen 
a  line  of  the  manuscript,  nor  asked  a  question  about  it. 

Therefore,  while  the  whole  value  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
interest  of  this  volume  are  due  to  the  aid  afforded  by  General 
Butler,  he  is  not  to  be  held  responsible  for  anything  in  it  except 
his  own  writings.     If  I  have  misunderstood  or  misinterpreted  any 


PBEFACE. 


event  or  person,  or  used  the  papers  injudiciously,  at  my  door  let 
all  the  blame  be  laid,  for  it  is  wholly  my  fault. 

And  farther :  I  must  explicitly  declare,  that  if  I  have  been  led 
to  form  an  unfavorable  opinion  of  the  conduct  of  any  person  men- 
tioned in  these  pages,  I  did  not  derive  that  ill  opinion  from  any 
thing  said  by  him.  So  far  as  his  own  conduct  is  concerned,  Gen- 
eral Butler  is  one  of  the  most  candid  of  men ;  and  he  is  particularly 
so  with  regard  to  any  of  his  acts  which  have  brought  obloquy  upon 
him,  or  which  he  may  himself  regret.  It  is  foreign  to  his  nature 
to  conceal  or  qualify  or  justify  his  own  conduct.  But  with  regard 
to  the  conduct  of  others,  and  especially  of  his  superiors  in  the  gov- 
ernment, he  is  reticent  and  charitable.  To  be  plain :  I  have  never 
heard  him  say  a  word  respecting  the  persons  who  are  supposed  to 
have  thwarted  him,  or  to  have  been  instrumental  in  his  recall, 
which  might  not  be  repeated  in  their  hearing  without  giving  them 
offense. 

I  have  been  solicitous  to  preserve  as  much  as  possible  of  the 
remarkable  writings  of  General  Butler.  He  was  always  at  bay  in 
Louisiana.  Assailed  by  consuls,  "neutrals,"  and  traitors,  whose 
misrepresentations  found  their  way  to  Washington,  he  was  contin- 
ually obliged  to  defend  himself  by  relating  the  truth.  With  what 
point,  humor,  and'  cogency  he  would  do  this,  the  public  do  not 
need  to  be  told.  Of  the  three  great  writers  of  the  war — General 
Butler.  President  Lincoln,  and  Mr.  Wilkes,  of  the  Spirit  of  the 
Times — he  had  the  advantage  of  a  position  entirely  unique  in  the 
history  of  warfare,  and  his  writings  are  instinct  both  with  his  own 
originality  and,  the  originality  of  his  position.  As  Mr.  Richard 
Grant  White  has  observed :  "  General  Butler's  orders  and  official 
correspondence  at  New  Orleans,  for  hitting  the  nail  square  upon 
the  head,  and  clinching  it  with  a  twist  of  humor,  have  not  been 
surpassed  by  any  writings  of  their  kind.  By  reading  them,  the 
man  weary  of  the  grand  style,  or  fretted  with  the  flippancy  of  the 
familiar,  may  obtain  real  mental  refreshment."  These  writings, 
too,  contain  the  heart  of  the  matter.  If  the  United  States  is  right 
in  this  great  contest,  the  argument  of  those  compositions  is  sound, 


10  PKErACE. 

and  the  measures  which  they  explain  were  just,  if'  the  United 
States  is  in  the  wrong,  those  writings  are  fallacious,  and  those 
measures  were  unjustifiable.  In  word  and  deed  General  Butler  is, 
at  least,  logical. 

I  have  related,  at  some  length,  the  civil  and  military  career  of 
General  Butler  previous  to  the  capture  of  New  Orleans.  This  waa 
chiefly  done,  that  the  reader  might  judge  whether  such  a  man  as 
General  Butler  was  before  he  went  to  New  Orleans  was  likely  to 
do  such  things  there  as  the  enemies  of  his  country  say  he  did. 

It  is  of  the  most  momentous  importance  to  the  future  of  the 
United  States,  that  whatever  is  written  respecting  this  war  should 
be  written  truly.  Upon  the  class  of  writers  it  chiefly  devolves  to 
garner  up,  for  our  future  warning,  solace,  and  instruction,  the  expe- 
rience gained  by  such  an  appalling  expenditure  of  life  and  of  the 
means  of  living.  Let  us  leave  all  lying,  all  delusion,  all  boasting, 
all  unworthy  suppressions,  to  the  malignants  who  know  no  better. 
For  us,  the  truth,  though  it  blast  us.  We  owe  it  to  the  heroic 
dead,  who  died  that  we  might  more  worthily  live.  We  owe  it  to 
the  living,  who  are  so  anxious  and  so  perplexed,  through  the  in- 
completeness of  their  knowledge.  We  owe  it  to  the  inconceivable 
multitude  of  our  brethren  and  fellow-citizens  unborn. 

For  myself,  I  can  say  that  every  page  of  this'  volume  has  been 
prepared  with  the  single  object  of  conveying  to  the  reader's  mind 
a  correct  impression  of  the  facts  related. 

My  grateful  acknowledgments  are  due  to  Mr.  Samuel  F.  Glenn, 
advocate,  of  New  Orleans,  who  relinquished,  in  my  favor,  a  project 
he  had  formed  of  writing  a  volume  on  the  same  subject.  He  had 
made,  indeed,  some  progress  in  the  work,  sufficient  to  render  its 
relinquishment  an  act  of  great  generosity.  I  told  him  that  the 
record  of  an  eye-witness  would  have  a  value  of  its  own,  not  to  bo 
affected  by  publications  of  another  nature ;  but  he  kindly  preferred 
to  retire  from  the  field,  and  resume  his  professional  labors  in  New 
Orleans. 

New  Yobk,    October  20,  1863. 


CONTENTa 


CHAPTER    L                                                             pack 
General  Butler  before  the  war 13 

CHAPIER   II. 
In  the  Charleston  Convention 45 

CHAPrER    III. 
Massachusetts  ready 59 

CHAPTER    IV. 
Annapolis 75 

CHAPTER    Y. 
Baltimore 100 

CHAPTER    VI. 
Fortress  Monroe 120 

CHAPTER    VII. 
Great  Bethel.  139 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
Consequences  of  Great  Bethel ...  143 

CHAPTER    IX. 
Recall  from  Virginia 163 

CHAPTER   X. 
Hatteras 1T6 

CHAPTER    XI. 
Recruiting  for  special  service 179 

CHAPTER    XII. 
Ship  Island 195 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Reduction  of  the  forts 21 

CHAPTER    XIV. 
The  Panic  in  New  Orleans  2t 

CHAPTER  XV. 
New  Orleans  will  not  surrender  SO" 

CHAPTER    XVI. 
Landing  in  NW  Orleans ..- 279 


]  2  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XVII.                         '                                r.vnK 
1'eeding  and  employing  the  poor 300 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 
The  woman  order 322 

CHAPTER    XIX. 
Execution  of  Mumford 346 

CHAPTER    XX. 
General  Butler  and  the  foreign  consuls 354 

CHAPTER    XXI. 
Snorts  toward  restoration 407 

CHAPTER    XXII. 
The  eftvct  In  Xew  Orleans  of  our  losses  in  Virginia 436 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 
The  sheep  and  the  goats 449 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 
The  confiscation  act 467 

CHAPTER    XXV. 
More  of  the  iron  hand 475 

CHAPTER    XXVI. 
The  negro  question — first  difficulties 4t;9 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 
General  Butler  and  General  Phelps 495 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

General  Butler  arms  the  free  colored  men,  and  finds  work  for  the  fugitive  slaves 51:5 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 
Representative  negro  anecdotes 532 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
Military  operations 551 

CHAPTER    XXXI. 
Routine  of  a  day  in  New  Orleans 5S6 

CHAPTER    XXXII. 
Recall 593 

CHAPTER    XXXIII. 
At  home 613 

CHAPTER    XXXIV. 
8nmmary 625 

Appent>ix 631 

Isdex «« 


GENERAL  BUTLER  IN  NEW  ORLEANS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

He  came  of  fighting  stock.  His  father's  father,  Captain  Zeph- 
aniah  Butler,  of  Woodbury,  Connecticut,  fought  under  General 
"Wolfe  at  Quebec,  and  served  in  the  continental  army  in  the  war 
of  the  revolution.  A  large,  old-fashioned  powder-horn,  covered 
with  quaint  carving,  done  by  this  old  soldier's  own  hand  and  jack- 
knife,  which  was  slung  at  his  side  when  he  climbed  the  hights  of 
Quebec,  and  the  sword  which  he  wore  during  the  wrar  for  indepen- 
dence, now  hang  in  the  library  of  General  Butler  at  Lowell,  the 
relics  of  an  honorable  career.  The  mother  of  General  Butler  de- 
scends from  the  Cilleys  of  New  Hampshire,  a  doughty  race  of  Scotch- 
Irish  origin ;  one  of  whom  fought  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne  on  the 
wrong  side.  That  valiant  Colonel  Cilley,  who  at  the  battle  of 
Bennington  commanded  a  company  that  had  never  seen  a  cannon, 
and  who,  to  quiet  their  apprehensions,  sat  astride  of  one  while 
it  was  discharged,  was  an  ancestor  of  our  general.  Mr.  Cilley, 
member  of  congress  from  Maine,  who  was  shot  in  a  memorable 
duel,  twenty-five  years  ago,  was  the  general's  cousin.  Thus  the 
tide  that  courses  the  veins  of  Benjamin  Franklin  Butler  is  com- 
posed, in  about  equal  parts,  of  that  blood  which  we  call  Anglo- 
Saxon,  and  of  that,  strenuous  fluid  which  gives  such  tenacity  ana 
audacity  to  the  Scotch-Irish.  Such  a  mixture  affords  promise  of  a 
mitigated  Andrew  Jackson  or  of  a  combative  Benjamin  Franklin. 

The  father  of  General  Butler  was  John  Butler,  of  Deerfield,  New 
Hampshire;  captain  of  dragoons  during  the  war  of  1812  ;  a  faith- 
ful soldier  who  served  for  a  while  under  General  Jackson  at  New 


14  GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

Orleans,  and  there  conceived  such  love  for  that  tough  old  hero,  as 
to  name  his  first  boy  Andrew  Jackson.  After  the  war,  he  engaged 
in  the  West  India  trade,  sailing  sometimes  as  supercargo,  some- 
times as  merchant,  sometimes  as  captain  of  the  schooner,  enjoying 
for  several  years  a  moderate  sufficient  prosperity.  In  politics,  a 
democrat,  of  the  pure  Jeffersonian  school ;  and  this  at  a  time  when 
in  New  Hampshire  to  be  a  democrat  was  to  live  under  a  social  ban. 
He  was  one  of  the  few  who  gave  gallant  support  to  young  Isaac 
Hill,  of  the  New  Hampshire  Patriot,  the  paper  which  at  length 
brought  the  state  into  democratic  line.  He  was  a  friend,  personal 
as  well  as  political,  of  Isaac  Hill,  and  shared  with  him  the  odium 
and  the  fierce  joy  of  those  early  contests  with  powerful  and  arro- 
gant federalism.  A  *  hearted'  democrat  was  Captain  Butler ;  one 
whose  democracy  was  part  of  his  religion.  In  Deerfield,  where 
he  lived,  there  were  but  eight  democratic  voters,  who  formed  a  little 
brotherhood,  apart  from  their  fellow  townsmen,  shunned  by  the  fed- 
eralists as  men  who  would  have  been  dangerous  from  their  princi- 
ples if  they  had  not  been  despicable  from  their  fewness.  His  boys, 
therefore,  were  born  into  the  ranks  of  an  abhorred  but  positive  and 
pugnacious  minority — a  little  spartan  band,  always  battling,  never 
subdued,  never  victorious. 

In  March,  1819,  Captain  Butler,  while  lying  at  one  of  the  West 
India  Islands  with  his  vessel,  died  of  yellow  fever,  leaving  to  the 
care  of  their  mother  his  two  boys,  Benjamin  being  then  an  in- 
fant five  months  old.  A  large  part  of  his  property  he  had  with 
him  at  the  time  of  his  death,  and  little  of  it  ever  found  its  way  to 
his  widow.  She  was  left  to  rear  her  boys  as  best  she  could,  with 
slender  means  of  support.  But  it  is  in  such  circumstances  that  a 
New  England  mother  shows  the  stuff  she  is  made  of.  Capable, 
thrifty,  diligent,  devoted,  Mrs.  Butler  made  the  most  of  her  means 
and  opportunities,  and  succeeded  in  giving  to  one  of  her  boys  a 
good  country  education,  and  helped  the  other  on  his  way  to  college, 
and  to  a  liberal  profession.  She  lives  still,  to  enjoy  in  the  success 
of  both  of  them,  the  fruit  of  her  self-denying  labors  and  wise 
management ;  they  proud  to  own  that  to  her  they  owe  whatever 
renders  them  worthy  of  it,  and  thanking  God  that  she  is  near  them 
to  dignify  and  share  their  honors  and  their  fortune. 

Of  late,  the  world  has  heard  a  good  deal  of  that  variety  of  the 
human  being  called  the  Yankee.     Our  Southern  ex-brethren  have 


••  •  • 


GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  Jo 

bestowed  much  strong  language  upon  him.  Mr.  Russell,  of  the 
London  Times,  has  given  him  passing  notice.  Some  orations 
have  been  pronounced  upon  him,  and  numberless  anecdotes  told  of 
him.  He  has,  also,  as  usual,  had  something  to  say  upon  the  sub- 
ject himself;  for  the  Yankee,  I  regret  to  say,  is  somewhat  given  to 
boasting  of  the  qualities  and  exploits  of  his  race.  The  various  ac- 
counts do  not  harmonize.  If  Dr.  Bellows  regards  the  Yankee  as 
the  consummate  man,  Jefferson  Davis  considers  him  a  companion 
less  desirable  than  the  hyena.  It  is  with  the  Yankee  as  with  other 
noted  personages,  the  more  that  is  printed  about  them,  the  more 
difficult  it  becomes  to  get  any  knowledge  of  them.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances, it  may  be  edifying  to  some  readers  to  have  a  recent 
specimen  of  this  curious  and  renowned  people  caught  and  ex- 
amined; his  growth  and  formation  briefly  narrated;  his  peculi- 
arities and  capabilities  noted.  General  Butler  is  a  Yankee.  He 
has  traits  which  are  peculiar  to  himself  and  to  his  family ;  but  in 
the  great  outlines,  both  of  his  career  and  of  his  character,  he  shows 
himself  a  Yankee  of  that  type,  of  which  his  namesake,  Benjamin 
Franklin,  is  the  perfect  and  immortal  example.  Behold,  then,  in 
the  paragraphs  following,  the  process  by  which  a  Yankee  becomes 
the  creature  we  find  him  in  these  very  days  now  passing  over  us. 

General  Butler  was  born  at  Deerfield,  an  agricultural  town  of 
NewHarupshire,  on  Guy  Faux  day,  the  fifth  of  November,  1818. 

The  fatherless  boy  was  small,  sickly,  tractable,  averse  to  quar- 
rels, and  happy  in  having  a  stout  elder  brother  to  take  his  part. 
Reading  and  writing  seem  to  come  by  nature  in  New  England,  for 
few  of  that  country  can  recollect  a  time  when  they  had  not  those 
accomplishments.  The  district  school  helped  him  to  spelling, 
figures,  a  little  geography,  and  the  rudiments  of  grammar.  He 
soon  caught  that  passion  for  reading  which  seizes  some  New  Eng- 
land boys,  and  sends  them  roaming  and  ravaging  in  their  neighbor- 
hood for  printed  paper.  His  experience  was  like  that  of  his  father's 
friend,  Isaac  Hill,  who  limped  the  country  round  for  books,  reading 
almanacs,  newspapers,  tracts,  "  Law's  Serious  Call,"  the  Bible, 
fragments  of  histories,  and  all  printed  things  that  fell  in  his  way. 
The  boy  hunted  for  books  as  some  boys  hunt  for  birds'-nests  and 
early  apples ;  and,  in  the  great  scarcity  of  the  article,  read  the  few 
he  had  so  often  as  to  learn  large  portions  of  them  by  heart ;  de- 
vouring with  special  eagerness  the  story  of  the  revolution,  and  all 


16  GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFOEE  THE  WAR. 

tales  of  battle  and  adventure.  The  Bible  was  his  mother's  sufficient 
library,  and  the  boy  pleased  her  by  committing  to  memory  long 
passages ;  once,  the  whole  book  of  Matthew.  His  memory  then, 
as  always,  was  something  wonderful.  He  can,  at  this  hour,  repeat 
more  poetry,  perhaps,  than  any  other  person  in  the  country  who 
has  not  made  the  repeating  of  poetry  a  profession.  His  mother, 
observing  this  gift,  and  considering  the  apparent  weakness  of  his 
constitution,  early  conceived  the  desire  of  giving  him  a  liberal  edu- 
cation, cherishing  also  the  fond  hope,  as  New  England  mothers 
would  in  those  days,  that  her  boy  would  be  drawn  to  enter  the 
ministry. 

One  chilly  morning  in  November,  1821,  when  he  was  in  his 
fourth  year,  half  a  dozen  sharp-eyed  Boston  gentlemen,  Nathan 
Appleton  being  one  of  them,  might  have  been  seen  (but  were  not) 
tramping  about  in  the  snow  near  the  Falls  of  the  Merrimac.  There 
was  a  hamlet  near  by  of  five  or  six  houses,  and  a  store,  but  these 
gentlemen  wandered  along  the  banks  of  the  river  among  the  rocks 
and  trees,  unobserved,  conversing  with  animation.  The  result  of 
that  morning's  walk  and  talk  was  the  city  of  Lowell,  now  a  place 
of  forty  thousand  inhabitants,  with  thirteen  millions  invested  in 
cotton  and  woolen  mills,  and  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  a 
month  paid  in  wages  to  operatives.  In  1828,  when  our  young 
■friend  was  ten  years  old,  and  Lowell  was  a  thriving  town  of  two 
thousand  inhabitants,  his  mother  removed  thither  with  her  boys. 

It  was  a  fortunate  move  for  them  all.  The  good  mother  was 
enabled  to  increase  her  income  by  taking  a  few  boarders,  and  her 
book-loving  son  had  better  schools  to  attend,  and  abundant  books 
at  command.  He  improved  these  opportunities,  graduating  from  a 
common  school  to  the  high  school,  and,  at  a  later  day,  preparing  for 
college  at  the  academy  of  Exeter  in  his  native  state. 

As  the  time  approached  for  his  entering  college,  the  question  was 
anxiously  discussed  in  the  family,  What  college?  Probably  one 
half  the  boys  in  the  United  States,  even  in  those  piping  times  of 
peace,  had  a  lurking  desire  to  enter  the  military  academy  at  West 
Point.  At  present,  every  boy  has  such  a  desire,  except  those  who 
prefer  the  naval  school  at  Newport.  Perhaps  the  boys  are  right. 
In  those  institutions  the  fundamental  conditions  of  manly  education 
are  complied  with  in  a  respectable  degree.  There  is  physical  train  • 
ing ;  there  is  science ;  there  modern  languages  have  their  proper 


GEXEEAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAK.  17 

place ;  there  drawing  and  dancing,  riding  and  fencing  are  taught ; 
there  is  due  suppression  of  those  rooted  obstacles  to  all  useful  ac- 
quisition, Latin  and  Greek ;  there  is  that  sweet  and  noble  thing,  so 
dear  to  ingenuous  youth,  discipline  ;  there,  if  anywhere,  a  rude 
cub  of  a  boy  can  be  transformed  into  that  beautiful  creature,  the 
true  fighting  animal,  but  the  man  nowhere  out  of  place — a  Gentle- 
man !  In  them,  too,  the  education  that  fits  a  man  for  life  proceeds 
simultaneously  with  that  which  prepares  him  for  his  profession — 
schooling  and  apprenticeship  going  hand  in  hand — which  is  the 
only  system  by  which  any  considerable  proportion  of  the  youth  of 
a  country  can  ever  be  liberally  educated.  Would  that  venerable 
Harvard,  venerable  Yale,  Amherst,  Williams,  Columbia,  and  the 
rest,  would  heed  the  lessons  the  times  are  teaching  us,  and  place 
themselves,  by  a  sweeping  revolution,  upon  a  footing  worthy  of  the 
age,  and  prepare  to  give  the  education  which  the  youth  of  the 
country  are  so  eager  to  receive.  If  existing  institutions  refuse  it,  a 
hundred  West  Points  will  spring  into  being,  and  the  glory  of  the 
good  old  colleges  will  depart  for  ever. 

The  boy  was  decided  in  favor  of  West  Point.  Nor  was  a  cadet- 
ship  unattainable,  in  the  days  of  Jackson  and  Isaac  Hill,  to  the  son 
of  Captain  John  Butler.  But  the  cautious  mother  hesitated.  She 
feared  he  would  forget  his  religion,  and  disappoint  her  dream  of 
seeing  him  in  the  pulpit  of  a  Baptist  church.  She  consulted  her 
minister  upon  the  subject.  He  agreed  with  her,  and  recommended 
Waterville  college,  in  Maine,  recently  founded  by  the  Baptists, 
with  a  special  view  to  the  education  of  young  men  for  the  ministry. 
It  promised,  also,  the  advantage  of  a  manual  labor  department,  in 
which  the  youth,  by  working  three  hours  a  day,  could  earn  part  of 
his  expenses.  At  Waterville,  moreover,  there  could  be  no  danger 
of  the  student's  neglecting  religion,  since  the  great  object  of  the 
college  was  the  inculcation  of  religion,  and  all  the  influences  of  the 
place  were  religious.  The  president  himself  was  a  clergyman, 
several  of  the  professors  were  clergymen.  Attendance  at  church 
on  Sundays  was  compulsory,  and  there  was  even  a  fine  of  ten 
cents  for  every  unexcused  absence  from  prayers.  With  such  safe- 
guards, what  danger  could  there  be  to  the  religious  principles  in- 
stilled into  the  mind  of  the  young  man  from  his  earliest  childhood  ? 
Thus  argued  the  minister.  The  mother  gave  heed  to  his  opinions, 
and  the  youth  was  consigned  to  Waterville. 


13  GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

He  was  a  slender  lad  of  sixteen,  small  of  stature,  health  infirm, 
of  fair  complexion,  and  hair  of  reddish  brown ;  his  character  con- 
spicuously shown  in  the  remarkable  form  of  his  head.  Over  his 
eyes  an  immense  development  of  the  perceptive  powers,  and  the 
upper  forehead  retreating  almost  like  that  of  a  flat-head  Indian.  A 
youth  of  keen  vision,  fiery,  inquisitive,  fearless ;  nothing  yet  de- 
veloped in  him  but  ardent  curiosity  to  know,  and  perfect  memory 
to  retain.  Phrenologists  would  find  proof  of  their  theory  in  com- 
paring the  portrait  of  the  youth  with  the  well-rounded  head  of  the 
man  mature,  his  organs  developed  by  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  in- 
tense and  constant  use  of  them.  His  purse  was  most  slenderly 
furnished.  His  mother  could  afford  him  little  help.  A  good  New 
Hampshire  uncle  gave  him  some  assistance  now  and  then,  and  he 
worked  his  three  hours  a  day  in  the  manual  labor  department  at 
chair-making,  earning  wages  ridiculously  small.  He  was  compelled 
to  remain  in  debt  for  a  considerable  part  of  his  college  expenses. 

Mr.  Carlyle  observes  that  the  natural  history  of  a  hawk  written 
by  a  sparrow  could  not  be  flattering  to  the  hawk.  Nor  could  it  be 
just.  Sedate  and  orthodox  professors  are  the  natural  prey  of  a 
lad  like  this,  born  into  a  minority,  trained  to  the  audacious  advo- 
cacy of  unpopular  opinions,  and  accustomed  to  regard  the  powers 
that  be  in  the  light  of  objects  of  attack.  I  fear,  therefore,  that  the 
college  career  of  this  student,  if  it  should  be  related  by  his  instruc- 
tors, would  not  present  him  to  us  in  a  favorable  light.  Perhaps, 
there  is  something  in  the  clerical  character  and  training  which,  in 
some  degree,  disqualify  a  man  for  gaining  an  ascendency  over  the 
minds  of  youth.  The  example  of  Arnold  may  be  cited  against 
such  an  opinion,  but  Arnold  was  an  exceptional  man,  in  an  excep- 
tional sphere. 

The  professors  attached  to  New  England  colleges  present  certain 
varieties  of  character  and  position : — The  president,  a  grave  and 
awful  Doctor  of  Divinity,  highest  in  place,  sometimes  lowest  in 
accomplishment,  owing  his  appointment  to  his  ecclesiastical  impor- 
tance rather  than  to  his  learning ;  sometimes  the  butt  of  the  college, 
often  deeply  loved  and  venerated.  There  is  the  professor  renowned 
beyond  the  college  walls,  its  advertisement  and  boast,  not  always 
highly  valued  in  the  class-room.  There  is  the  absorbed  professor, 
book-worm  and  devotee  of  his  subject,  who  knows  not  the  name  of 
the  president  of  the  United  States,  and  never  heard  of  Dickens  and 


GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  19 

Thackeray.  There  is  the  unpopular  professor,  a  prying,  meddling 
gentleman,  keen  in  the  scent  of  a  furtive  cigar,  prompt  to  appear 
at  the  moment  he  is  least  expected  and  desired.  There  is  the  be- 
loved professor,  the  students'  gentle  friend  and  father,  whom  to 
insult  or  annoy  rouses  the  retributive  wrath  of  the  whole  class.. 
There  is  the  professor  of  doubtful  scholarship,  often  wrong  in  his 
dicta,  the  tortured  victim  of  the  knowing  ones,  who  have  explored 
the  shallows  of  his  mind,  and  know  what  questions  he  cannot 
answer.  There  is  the  dandy  professor,  deliverer  of  flowery  ora- 
tions, or  of  sermons  trivial  and  showy.  There  is  the  professor  who 
is  writing  a  book,  and  gets  students  of  the  softer  sort  to  copy  for 
him.  There  is  the  professor  who  once  wrote  an  article  for  the 
"  North  American  Review,"  and  gives  the  number  containing  it  to 
his  favorites.  There  is  the  foreign-born  professor  of  immense  learn- 
ing, not  too  fond  of  attending  morning  prayers,  totally  unable  to 
keep  order  in  his  class.  And  there  is  the  lynx-eyed  professor,  whom 
no  one  attempts  to  cheat ;  and  the  absent-minded  professor,  who 
sits  cogitating  his  next  sermon,  regardless  of  the  written  transla- 
tion, or  the  forbidden  "  key." 

Waterville  was  a  young  college,  but  it  could  boast  most  of  these 
varieties ;  and  to  as  many  as  there  were,  our  young  friend  was  oc- 
casionally an  affliction.  Most  of  them  were  clergymen  and  theolo- 
gians more  than  they  were  instructors  of  youth ;  their  object  being 
to  make  good  Baptists  as  well  as  good  scholars.  ^ 

But  the  college  was  of  vast  benefit  to  our  young  friend,  as  any 
college  must  have  been,  conducted  in  the  interests  of  virtue,  and 
attended  by  a  hundred  and  seventy-live  young  men  from  the  simple 
and  industrious  homes  of  New  England ;  most  of  them  eager  to 
improve,  and  perfectly  aware  that  upon  themselves  alone  depended 
the  success  of  their  future  career.  If  he  was  prone  to  undervalue 
some  parts  of  the  college  course,  he  made  most  liberal  use  of  the 
college  library.  He  was  an  omnivorous  reader.  All  the  natural 
sciences  were  interesting  to  him,  particularly  chemistry;  and  his 
fondness  for  such  studies  inclined  him  long  to  choose  the  medical 
profession.  No  student  went  better  prepared  to  the  class-room  of 
the  professor  of  natural  philosophy. 

Seduced  by  his  example,  there  arose  a  party  in  the  college  op- 
posed to  the  regular  course  of  studies,  advocates  of  an  unregulated 
browse  among  the  books  of  the  library,  each  student  to  read  only 


20  GENERAL  BUTLEE  BEFOEE  TUB    WAR. 

such  subjects  as  interested  him.  There  was  a  split  in  the  Literary 
Society.  Of  the  retiring  body,  after  immense  electioneering,  young- 
Butler  was  elected  president,  and  the  question  was  theu  debated 
with  extreme  earnestness  for  several  weeks,  whether  the  mind 
would  fare  better  by  confining  itself  to  the  college  routine,  or  by 
reading  whatever  it  had  appetite  for.  I  know  not  which  party  car- 
ried the  day  ;  but  our  friend  was  foremost  in  maintaining  both  by 
speech  and  example,  that  knowledge  was  knowledge,  however  ob- 
tained, and  that  the  mind  could  get  most  advantage  by  partaking 
of  the  kind  of  nutriment  it  craved.  He  laid  a  wager  with  a  noted 
plodder  of  the  college,  that  he  would  continue  for  a  given  term  his 
desultory  reading,  and  yet  beat  him  in  the  regular  lessons  of  the 
class.  The  wager  was  won  by  an  artifice.  He  did  continue  his 
desultory  reading,  as  well  as  his  desultory  wanderings  about  the 
country,  but  late  at  night,  when  all  the  college  slept,  he  spent  some 
hours  in  vigorous  cram  for  the  next  day's  lesson.  His  memory 
was  such,  that  he  found  it  easier  to  commit  to  memory  such  lessons 
as  "Wayland's  Moral  Philosophy,"  than  to  prepare  them  in  the 
usual  way.  He  astonished  his  plodding  friend  one  day,  by  repeat- 
ing thirteen  pages  of  Wayland,  without  once  hesitating. 

He  came  into  collision  with  his  reverend  instructors  on  a  point 
of  college  discipline.  The  fine  of  ten  cents  imposed  for  absence 
from  prayers,  was  a  serious  matter  to  a  young  gentleman  natu- 
rally averse  to  getting  up  before  daylight,  and  who  earned  not 
more*  than  two  or  three  ten  cent  pieces  daily  in  the  chair  shop. 
But  it  was  not  of  the  fine  that  he  complained.  It  was  a  rule  of  the 
college,  that  the  fine  should  carry  with  it  a  loss  of  standing  in  class. 
This  our  student  esteemed  unjust,  and  he  thought  he  had  good  rea- 
son to  complain  since,  though,  upon  the  whole,  a  good  scholar,  he 
was  always  on  the  point  of  expulsion  from  the  loss  of  marks  for  his 
morning  delinquency.  He  took  an  opportunity,  at  length,  to  protest 
against  this  apparent  injustice  in  a  highly  audacious  and  character- 
istic manner.  One  of  the  professors,  a  distinguished  theologian, 
preached  in  the  college  church,  a  sermon  of  the  severest  Calvinistic 
type,  in  the  course  of  which  he  maintainedpropositions  like  these : 
1.  The  Elect,  and  the  Elect  alone,  will  be  saved.  2.  Of  the  people 
commonly  called  Christians,  probably  not  more  than  one  in  a  hun- 
dred will  be  saved.  3.  The  heathen  have  a  better  chance  of  salva- 
tion than  the  inhabitants  of  Christian  countries  who  neglect  theii 


GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  21 

opportunities.  Upon  these  hints,  the  young  gentleman  spake.  He 
drew  up  a  petition  to  the  faculty,  couched  in  the  language  of  pro- 
found respect,  asking  to  be  excused  from  further  attendance  at 
prayers  and  sermons,  on  the  grounds  so  ably  sustained  in  the  dis- 
course of  the  preceding  Sunday.  If,  he  said,  the  doctrine  of  that 
sermon  was  sound,  of  which  he  would  not  presume  to  entertain  a 
doubt,  he  was  only  preparing  for  himself  a  future  of  more  exquisite 
anguish  by  attending  religious  services.  He  begged  to  be  allowed 
to  remind  the  faculty,  that  the  church  in  which  the  sermon  was 
preached,  had  usually  a  congregation  of  six  hundred  persons,  nine 
of  whom  were  his  revered  professors  and  tutors ;  and  as  only  one 
in  a  hundred  of  ordinary  Christians  could  be  saved,  three  even  of 
the  faculty,  good  men  as  all  of  them  were,  were  inevitably  damned. 
Could  he,  a  mere  student,  and  not  one  of  the  most  exemplary,  ex- 
pect to  be  saved  before  his  superiors  ?  Far  be  from  him  a  thought  so 
presumptuous.  Shakspeare  himself  had  intimated  that  the  lieutenant 
cannot  expect  salvation  before  his  military  superior.  Nothing  re- 
mained, therefore,  for  him  but  perdition.  In  this  melancholy  pos- 
ture of  aifairs,  it  became  him  to  beware  of  hightening  his  future 
torment  by  listening  to  the  moving  eloquence  of  the  pulpit,  or 
availing  himself  of  any  of  the  privileges  of  religion.  But  here  he 
was  met  by  the  college  laws,  which  compelled  attendance  at  chapel 
and  church;  which  imposed  a  pecuniary  fine  for  non-attendance, 
and  entailed  a  loss  of  the  honors  due  to  his  scholarship.  Threatened 
thus  with  damnation  in  the  next  world,  bankruptcy  and  disgrace  in 
this,  he  implored  the  merciful  consideration  of  the  faculty,  and 
asked  to  be  excused  from  all  further  attendance  at  prayers  and  at 
church. 

This  unique  petition  was  drawn  with  the  utmost  care,  and  the 
reasoning  fully  elaborated.  Handsomely  copied,  and  folded  into 
the  usual  form  of  important  public  documents,  it  was  sent  to  the 
president.  The  faculty  did  not  take  the  joke.  Before  the  whole 
college  in  chapel  assembled,  the  culprit  standing,  he  was  repri- 
manded for  irreverence.  It  was  rumored  at  the  time,  that  he  nar- 
rowly escaped  expulsion.  He  had  a  friend  or  two  in  the  faculty 
who,  perhaps,  could  forgive  the  audacity  of  the  petition,  for  the  sake 
of  its  humor. 

It  must  be  owned,  that  the  Calvinistic  theology  in  vogue  at 
Waterville,  did  not  commend  itself  to  the  mind  of  this  young  man. 


22  GENEEAE  BUTLEB  BEFOEE  THE  WAR. 

He  was  formed  by  nature  to  be  an  antagonist ;  and  youth  is  an 
antagonist  regardless  of  remote  consequences.  At  West  Point  he 
would  have  battled  for  his  hereditary  tenets  against  all  who  had 
questioned  them.  At  Waterville,  nothing  pleased  him  better  than 
to  measure  logic  with  the  staunchest  doctor  of  them  all.  It 
chanced  toward  the  close  of  his  college  course,  that  the  worthy 
president  of  the  institution  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  upon 
miracles,  maintaining  these  two  propositions:  1.  If  the  miracles 
are  true,  the  gospel  is  of  Divine  origin  and  authority.  2.  The 
miracles  are  true,  because  the  apostles,  who  must  have  known 
whether  they  were  true  or  false,  proved  their  belief  in  their  truth 
by  their  martyrdom.  At  the  close  of  each  discourse,  the  lecturer 
invited  the  class  to  offer  objections.  Young  Butler  seized  the  op- 
portunity with  alacrity,  and  plied  the  doctor  hard  with  the  usual 
arguments  employed  by  the  heterodox.  He  did  not  fail  to  furnish 
himself  with  a  catalogue  of  martyrs  who  had  died  in  the  defense, 
and  for  the  sole  sake  of  dogmas  now  universally  conceded  to  be 
erroneous.  All  religions,  he  said,  boasted  their  army  of  martyrs ; 
and  martyrdom  proved  nothing — not  even  the  absolute  sincerity  of 
the  martyr.  And  as  to  the  apostles,  Peter  notoriously  denied  his 
Lord,  Thomas  was  an  avowed  skeptic,  James  and  John  were  slain 
to  please  the  Jews,  and  the  last  we  heard  of  Paul  was,  that  he  was 
living  in  his  own  hired  house,  commending  the  government  of  Nero. 
The  debate  continued  day  after  day,  our  youth  cramming  diligently 
for  each  encounter,  always  eager  for  the  fray.  He  chanced  to  find 
in  the  village  a  copy  of  that  armory  of  unbelief,  "  Taylor's  Die- 
gesis  of  the  New  Testament ;"  and  from  this,  he  and  his  comrades 
secretly  drew  missives  to  let  fly  at  the  president  after  lecture.  The 
doctor  maintained  his  ground  ably  and  manfully,  little  thinking  that 
he  was  contending,  not  with  a  few  saucy  students,  but  with  the  ac- 
cumulated skeptical  ingenuity  of  centuries. 

All  this,  I  need  scarcely  say,  was  mere  intellectual  exercise  and 
sport.  The  youth  came  out  of  college  as  good  a  Christian  as  he 
went  in.  Christianity,  hardened  down  into  a  system  of  opinions, 
has  long  been  an  object  of  criticism ;  every  young  and  fearless  in- 
tellect, during  the  last  century  and  a  half,  has  tried  itself  upon  it. 
Christianity,  as  a  controller  of  action,  as  organized  Virtue,  as  the 
benign  inspirer  of  motives,  as  the  tamer  of  the  human  savage,  as  the 
weekly  monitor  and  rest,  rescuer  of  a  whole  day  in  seven  from  the 


GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  23 

routine  of  toil,  ten  years  of  possible  millennium  in  every  unabbre- 
viated life — who  has  ever  quarreled  with  that?  I  suppose  our 
student  would  have  heartily  subscribed  the  remark  of  John  Adams, 
in  one  of  those  delightful  letters  of  his  old  age  to  Mr.  Jefferson, 
upon  the  materialistic  controversy.  "  You  and  I,"  said  the  old  man, 
"  have  as  much  authority  to  settle  these  disputes  as  Swift,  Priestley, 
Dupuis,  or  the  Pope ;  and  if  you  will  agree  with  me,  we  will  issue 
our  bull,  and  enjoin  it  upon  all  these  gentlemen  to  be  silent,  until 
they  can  tell  us  what  matter  is,  and  what  spirit  is,  and,  in  the  mean- 
time^ to  observe  the  commandments  and  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount." 

His  college  course  was  done.  He  would  have  graduated  with 
honor,  if  his  standing  as  a  scholar  had  not  been  lost  through  his 
delinquencies  as  a  rebel.  As  it  was,  it  was  touch-and-go,  whether 
he  could  be  permitted  to  graduate  at  all.  He  was,  however,  as- 
signed a  low  place  in  the  graduating  class,  and  bore  off  as  good  a 
piece  of  parchment  as  the  best  of  them.  He  had  outlived  his  early 
preference  for  the  medical  profession.  In  one  of  his  last  years  at 
college,  he  had  witnessed  in  court  a  well-contested  trial,  and  as  he 
marked  with  admiration  the  skillful  management  of  the  opposing 
counsel,  and  shared  the  keen  excitement  of  the  strife,  he  said  to 
himself:  "  This  is  the  work  for  me."  He  left  college  in  debt,  and 
with  health  impaired.  He  weighed  but  ninety-seven  pounds.  In 
all  the  world,  there  was  no  one  to  whom  he  could  look  for  help, 
save  himself  alone. 

Yet,  in  the  nick  of  time,  he  found  a  friend  who  gave  him  just  the 
aid  he  needed  most.  It  was  an  uncle,  captain  of  a  fishing  schooner, 
one  of  those  kind  and  brave  old  sailors  of  Yankee  land,  who,  for 
two  hundred  years,  have  roamed  the  northern  seas  in  quest  of  some- 
thing to  keep  the  pot  boiling  on  the  rock-bound  shores  of  Home. 
The  good-hearted  captain  observed  the  pale  visage  and  attenuated 
form  of  his  nephew.  "  Come  with  me,  lad,  to  the  coast  of  Labra- 
dor, and  heave  a  line  this  summer.  I'll  give  you  a  bunk  in  the 
cabin,  but  you  must  do  your  duty  before  the  mast,  watch  and  watch, 
like  a  man.  I'll  warrant  you'll  come  back  sound  enough  in  the  fall." 
Thus,  the  ancient  mariner.  The  young  man  went  to  the  coast  of 
Labrador ;  hove  a  line ;  ate  the  flesh  and  drank  the  oil  of  cod ;  came 
back,  after  a  four  months'  cruise,  in  perfect  health,  and  had  not 
another  sick  day  in  twenty  years.     His  constitution  developed  into 


24  GEXEEAL  BUTLEE  BEFOEE  THE  WAE. 

the  toughest,  the  most  indefatigable  compound  of  brain,  nerve  and 
muscle  lately  seen  in  New  England.  A  gift  of  twenty  thousand 
dollars  had  been  a  paltry  boon  in  comparison  with  that  bestowed 
upon  him  by  this  worthy  uncle. 

He  returned  to  Lowell  in  his  twentieth  year,  and  took  hold  of 
life  with  a  vigorous  grasp.  The  law  office  which  he  entered  as  a 
student  was  that  of  a  gentleman  who  spent  most  of  his  time  in 
Boston,  and  from  whom  he  received  not  one  word  of  guidance  or 
instruction;  nor  felt  the  need  of  one.  He  read  law  with  all  his 
might,  and  began  almost  immediately  to  practice  a  little  in  the  police 
courts  of  Lowell,  conducting  suits  brought  by  the  factory  girls 
against  the  mill  corporations,  and  defending  petty  criminal  cases ; 
glad  enough  to  earn  an  occasional  two  dollar  fee.  The  presiding 
justice  chanced  to  be  a  really  learned  lawyer  and  able  man,  and 
thus  this  small  practice  was  a  valuable  aid  to  the  student.  Small 
indeed  were  his  gains,  and  sore  his  need.  One  six  months  of  his 
two  years'  probation,  he  taught  a  public  school  in  Lowell,  in  order 
to  procure  decent  clothing;  and  he  taught  it  well,  say  his  old  pupils. 
What  with  his  school,  his  law  studies,  and  his  occasional  practice, 
he  worked  eighteen  hours  in  the  twenty-four. 

At  this  time  he  joined  the  City  Guard,  a  company  of  that  Sixth 
regiment  of  Massachusetts  militia,  so  famous  in  these  years  for 
its  bloody  march  through  Baltimore.  Always  fond  of  military 
pursuits  and  exercises,  he  has  served  in  every  grade — private,  cor- 
poral, sergeant,  third  lieutenant,  second  lieutenant,  first  lieutenant, 
captain,  major,  lieutenant-colonel,  colonel,  and  brigadier-general; 
making  it  a  point  to  hold  every  one  of  these  positions  in  due  suc- 
cession. For  many  years,  the  drills,  parades  and  annual  encampings 
of  his  regiment  were  the  only  recreation  for  which  he  would  find 
leisure — much  to  the  wonder  of  his  professional  friends,  who  were 
wont,  in  the  old,  peaceful  times,  to  banter  him  severely  upon  what 
seemed  to  them  a  rather  ridiculous  foible.  "What  a  fool  you  are," 
they  would  say,  "to  spend  so  much  time  in  marching  around  town 
in  soldier-clothes!"  This  young  gentleman,  however,  was  one  of 
those  who  take  hold  of  life  as  they  find  it;  not  disdaining  the  duties 
of  a  citizen  of  a  free  country,  but  rejoicing  in  them,  and  making 
them  serve  his  purposes,  as  they  should.  There  is  a  '  set '  in  Mas- 
sachusetts who  hold  aloof  from  the  homely,  vigorous  life  around 
them,  contemplating  the  world  from  library  windows,  and  reserving 


GENERAL   BUTLER    BEFORE   THE    AVAR.  25 

all  their  sympathies  for  other  and  distant  civilizations — to  their  own 
infinite  and  irreparable  damage.  Our  young  student-at-law  was  not, 
and  could  not  be  one  of  these.  He  took  much  of  his  knowledge, 
not  diluted  and  corrupted  by  literary  decoction,  but  at  the  original 
sources — in  the  street,  the  police  court,  the  school-room,  the  political 
meeting,  the  parade  ground,  and  grew,  at  least,  robust  upon  that 
fresh,  substantial  fare. 

A  trifling  incident  of  these  early  years  marks  at  once  the  Yankee 
and  the  man.  That  every-day  wonder  of  the  modern  world,  a  loco- 
motive, was  then  first  seen  at  Lowell.  Many  of  us  remember  see- 
ing our  first  locomotive,  and  how  we  comported  ourselves  on  the 
interesting  occasion.  Our  young  lawyer  behaved  thus:  In  com- 
pany with  his  friend,  the  engineer,  he  visited  the  wondrous  engine 
at  its  own  house,  and  spent  five  hours  in  studying  it,  questioning 
both  it  and  its  master  until  he  understood  the  why  and  the  where- 
fore of  every  part,  and  felt  competent  to  navigate  the  machine  to 
Boston.  This  small  anecdote  contains  the  essence  of  old  New 
England ;  which  is  expressed,  also,  in  one  of  the  country  exclama- 
tions :  "  I  toant  to  Jcnoio!" 

I  thought  I  had  a  very  pretty  story  to  tell  here  of  the  manner  in 
which  our  young  student-at-law  won  the  affections  of  the  Lowell 
mill-girls :  How  one  of  the  girls  brought  a  suit  against  a  wealthy 
corporation  of  mill-owners  for  a  small  sum  of  disputed  wages,  and 
employed  Mr.  B.  F.  Butler  to  prosecute  her  claim :  How  he  looked 
about  the  mills  of  the  company  to  find  a  piece  of  property  to  "  at- 
tach," of  "  about  the  value"  of  the  amount  demanded  :  How  he  could 
not  attach  the  real  estate  of  the  company,  because  that  would  have 
entailed  upon  him  the  necessity  of  giving  a  bond  for  an  odd  mil- 
lion or  so,  which  neither  he  nor  his  client  could  do;  and  how  the 
same  difficulty  arose  when  he  proposed  to  lay  the  sheriff's  paraly- 
zing hand  upon  the  looms,  or  even  upon  one  of  them :  How  he 
fixed,  at  length,  upon  the  water-wheel  of  the  principal  mill,  and 
placed  a  keeper  in  charge  of  the  same,  to  forbid  its  making  a  single 
revolution  until  his  client  was  satisfied :  How  the  managers  of  the 
mill  were  brought  to  reflection  by  this  maneuver,  and  hastened  to 
compromise  with  the  girl;  and  how  the  ingenuity  and  audacity 
of  the  young  student  called  the  attention  of  the  whole  community 
of  girls  to  his  talents,  and  caused  him  to  be  employed  in  all  their 


20  GENERAL   BUTLER   BEFORE   THE   WAR. 

little  suits  against  the  mill-owners,  and  so  gave  him  an  excellent 
start  in  his  profession. 

The  story  has  been  told  and  printed  a  thousand  times,  and  it  is 
to  this  day  one  of  the  stock  anecdotes  of  Lowell.  General  Butler 
informs  me,  however,  that  the  story  is  totally  destitute  of  truth. 
No  event  at  all  resembling  it  has  ever  occurred  in  his  career. 
Moreover,  the  ruse  is  a  legal  impossibility. 

In  1840,  being  then  twenty-two  years  of  age,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar.  An  early  incident  brought  him  into  favor  with  some  of 
the  mill-owners.  There  was  a  strike  among  his  friends  and  patrons, 
the  girls ;  two  or  three  thousand  of  whom  assembled  in  a  grove 
near  Lowell,  to  talk  over  their  grievances  and  organize  for  their 
redress.  They  invited  the  young  lawyer  to  address  them,  and  he 
accepted  the  invitation.  It  was  a  unique  position  for  a  gentleman 
of  twenty-two,  not  wanting  in  the  romantic  element,  to  stand  before 
an  audience  of  three  thousand  young  ladies,  the  well-instructed 
daughters  of  New  England  farmers  and  mechanics.  He  gave  them 
sound  advice,  such  as  might  have  come  from  an  older  head.  Ad- 
mitting the  justice  of  their  claims,  he  showed  the  improbability  of 
their  obtaining  them  at  a  time  when  labor  was  abundant,  and  places 
in  the  mills  were  sought  by  more  girls  than  could  be  employed. 
The  mill-owners,  he  said,  could,  at  that  time,  allow  their  mills  to 
stand  idle  for  a  considerable  period  without  serious  loss — perhaps, 
even  with  advantage ;  but  could  the  girls  afford  to  lose  any  con- 
siderable part  of  a  season's  wages  ?  Strikes  were  always  a  doubt- 
ful, often  a  desperate  measure,  and  entailed  suffering  upon  the 
operatives  a  thousand  times  greater  than  the  evils  for  which  they 
sought  redress.  The  time  might  come  when  a  strike  would  be  the 
only  course  left  them ;  but,  at  present,  he  counseled  other  mea- 
sures. He  concluded  by  strongly  advising  the  girls  to  return  to 
their  work,  and  endeavor  by  remonstrance,  and,  if  that  failed,  by 
appeals  to  the  legislature,  to  procure  a  shorter  day  and  juster  com- 
pensation.    The  girls  took  his  advice  and  returned  to  work. 

The  day's  work  in  the  mills  was  then  thirteen  hours — a  literally 
killing  period.  Thirteen  hours  a  day  in  a  mill  means  this :  inces- 
sant activity  from  five  in  the  morning  until  nine  in  the  evening  the 
year  round.  It  means  a  tired  and  useless  Sunday.  It  means  torpid- 
ity or  death  to  all  the  nobler  faculties.  It  means  a  white  and  bloated 
face,  a  diseased  and  languid  body,  a  premature  death.     As  much  as 


GENERAL   BUTLER   BEFORE    THE    WAR.  27 

to  any  other  man  in  Massachusetts  the  subsequent  change  to  eleven 
hours  was  owing  to  "the  girl's  lawyer,"  as  we  shall  see  in  a  moment. 

His  advice  to  the  girls,  at  their  mass-meeting  in  the  grove,  was 
well  pleasing  to  the  lords  of  the  mill,  some  of  whom,  from  this 
time,  gave  him  occasional  employment. 

But  our  young  friend  remained  a  democrat — a  democrat  during 
the  administration  of  General  Jackson — a  democrat  in  Lowell,  sup- 
posed to  be  the  creation  of  that  protective  tariff  which  a  democratic 
majority  had  reduced  and  was  reducing!  It  was  like  living  at 
Cape  Cod  and  voting  against  the  fishing  bounties,  or  in  Louisiana 
and  opposing  the  sugar  duty.  And  this  particular  democrat  was  a 
man  without  secrets  and  without  guile ;  positive,  antagonistic  and 
twenty-two ;  a  friend  and  disciple  of  Isaac  Hill,  and  one  who  had 
seen  that  little  lame  hero  of  democracy  assaulted  by  the  huge 
Uphain  in  the  streets  of  Exeter,  with  feelings  not  unutterable.  In 
such  odium  were  his  opinions  held  in  Lowell  at  that  time,  that  he 
could  not  appear  at  the  tavern  table  in  court  time  without  being 
tabooed  or  insulted.  The  first  day  of  his  sitting  at  dinner  with  the 
bar,  the  discussion  grew  so  hot  that  the  main  business  of  the  occa- 
sion was  neglected,  and  he  concluded  that  if  he  meant  to  take  sus- 
tenance at  all  he  must  dine  elsewhere.  He  did  so  for  one  day;  but 
feeling  that  such  a  course  looked  like  abandoning  the  field,  he  re- 
turned on  the  day  following,  and  faced  the  music  to  the  end  of  the 
session. 

His  audacity  and  quickness  stood  him  in  good  stead  at  this  pe- 
riod. One  of  his  first  cases  being  called  in  court,  he  said,  in  the 
usual  way,  "  Let  notice  be  given !" 

"  In  what  paper  ?"  asked  the  aged  clerk  of  the  court,  a  strenuous 
whig. 

"  In  the  Lowell  Advertiser"  was  the  reply ;  the  Lowell  Adver- 
tiser being  a  Jackson  paper,  never  mentioned  in  a  Lowell  court ;  of 
whose  mere  existence,  few  there  present  would  confess  a  knowl- 
edge. 

"The  Lowell  Advertiser?"  said  the  clerk,  with  disdainful  non- 
chalance, "  I  don't  know  such  a  paper." 

"  Pray,  Mr.  Clerk,"  said  the  lawyer,  "  do  not  interrupt  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  court ;  for  if  you  begin  to  tell  us  what  you  don't 
know,  there  will  be  no  time  for  anything  else." 

He  was  always  prompt  with  a  retort  of  this  kind.  So,  at  a  later 
a 


28  GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

day,  when  he  was  cross-questioning  a  witness  m  not  the  most  re- 
spectful manner,  and  the  court  interposing,  reminded  him  that  the 
witness  was  a  professor  in  Harvard  college,  he  instantly  replied ; 
"  I  am  aware  of  it,  your  honor ;  we  hung  one  of  them  the  other 
day" 

His  politics  were  not,  in  reality,  an  obstacle  to  his  success  at  the 
bar,  though  his  friends  feared  they  would  be.  There  are  two  sides 
to  every  suit ;  and  as  people  go  to  law  to  win,  they  are  not  likely 
to  overlook  an  advocate  who,  besides  the  ordinary  motives  to  exer- 
tion, has  the  stimulus  of  political  and  social  antagonism.  He  won 
his  way  rapidly  to  a  lucrative  practice,  and  with  sufficient  rapidity, 
to  an  important,  leading,  conspicuous  practice.  He  was  a  bold, 
diligent,  vehement,  inexhaustible  opponent.  He  accepted  the  the- 
ory of  his  profession  without  limitation  or  reserve,  conceiving  it  to 
be  his  duty  to  save  or  serve  his  client  with  not  the  slightest  regard 
to  the  moral  aspects  of  the  matter  in  dispute.  That  is  the  concern 
of  the  law-maker  and  the  court ;  the  advocate's  business,  in  his 
opinion,  is  simply  and  solely,  to  serve  his  client's  interests.  And  if 
there  should  be  lawyers  at  all,  this  is,  beyond  question,  the  correct 
theory  of  the  vocation. 

In  some  important  particulars,  General  Butler  surpassed  all  his 
contemporaries  at  the  JSTew  England  bar.  His  memory  was  such, 
that  he  could  retain  the  whole  of  the  testimony  of  the  very  longest 
trial  without  taking  a  note.  His  power  of  labor  seemed  unlimited. 
In  fertility  of  expedient,  and  in  the  lightning  quickness  of  his  de- 
vices, to  snatch  victory  from  the  jaws  of  defeat,  his  equal  has  sel- 
dom lived.  To  these  gifts,  add  a  perseverance  that  knew  no  dis- 
couragement, "and  never  accepted  defeat  while  one  possibility  of 
triumph  remained.  One  who  saw  him  much  at  the  bar  in  former 
times,  wrote  of  him  three  years  ago : 

"  His  devices  and  shifts  to  obtain  an  acquittal  and  release  are  ab- 
solutely endless  and  innumerable.  He  is  never  daunted  or  baffled 
until  the  sentence  is  passed  and  put  into  execution,  and  the  reprieve, 
pardon,  or  commutation  is  refused.  An  indictment  must  be  drawn 
with  the  greatest  nicety,  or  it  will  not  stand  his  criticism.  A  ver- 
dict of  guilty  is  nothing  to  him ;  it  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  case ; 
he  has  fifty  exceptions ;  a  hundred  motions  in  arrest  of  judgment ; 
and  after  that  the  habeas  corpus  and  personal  replevin.  The  op- 
posing counsel  never  begins  to  feel  safe  until  the  evidence  is  all  in ; 


GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  29 

for  he  knows  not  what  new  dodges  Butler  may  spring  npon  him. 
He  is  more  fertile  in  expedients  than  any  man  who  practices  law 
among  us.  His  expedients  frequently  fail,  but  they  are  generally  plau- 
sible enough  to  bear  the  test  of  trial.  And  faulty  and  weak  as  they 
oftentimes  are,  Butler  always  has  confidence  in  them  to  the  last ; 
and  when  one  fails,  he  invariably  tries  another.  If  it  were  not  that 
there  must  be  an  end  to  everything,  his  desperate  cases  would 
never  be  finished,  for  there  would  be  no  end  to  his  expedients  to 
obtain  his  case." 

An  old  friend  and  fellow-practitioner  of  General  Butler,  Mr.  J.  Q. 
A.  A.  Griffin,  of  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  favors  the  reader  with 
some  interesting  reminiscences  of  the  general's  career  at  the  bar : 

"  General  Butler,"  he  remarks,  "  has  the  power  possessed  by  but 
few  men,  of  attending  to  several  important  mental  operations  at  the 
same  time.     An  incident  will  show  you  my  meaning : 

"In  a  trial  of  a  quite  important  matter,  in  the  year  1860,  I  was 
counsel  on  the  same  side  with  General  Butler.  It  was  a  busy 
season  of  the  year  for  lawyers  like  him  who  always  had  an  over- 
flowing docket.  The  trial  began  just  after  his  return  from  the 
nomination  of  Breckinridge.  He  was  to  make  a  report  of  his  doings 
to  his  constituents  at  Lowell.  The  meeting  was  called  to  be  held 
at  night.  Dissatisfaction  existed  in  the  party,  and  the  General 
therefore  must  speak  with  care  and  consideration.  He  determined 
to  write  what  he  was  to  say.  But  the  court  began  early  and  sat 
late.  He  took  his  seat  in  court,  and  while  the  adverse  party  ex- 
amined their  witnesses  in  chief,  he  wrote  out  his  speech,  appa- 
rently absorbed  therein.  But  he  cross-examined  each  witness  at 
great  length,  with  wonderful  thoroughness  and  acuteness,  evincing 
a  perfect  knowledge,  not  only  of  what  the  witness  had  said  in  sub- 
stance, but  when  needful,  of  the  phrases  in  which  he  had  uttered  it. 
At  noon,  over  our  dinner,  he  read  over  what  he  had  written  and 
made  such  corrections  as  were  needful,  which  were  quite  as  few, 
I  thought,  as  would  have  been  found  if  the  speech  had  been  written 
in  the  quiet  of  his  study.  In  the  afternoon  he  went  through  the 
same  routine,  and  at  night  made  his  speech.  This  is  but  an  in- 
stance. Amid  confusion  of  transactions,  where  other  men  became 
indecisive,  he  always  saw  his  way  clear.  Whatever  his  occupa- 
tions, however  intently  his  mind  was  employed,  it  was  always  safe 
to  interrupt  him  by  suggestions  or  inquiries  about  the  matter  in 


30  GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

hand,  or  anything  else,  for  he  could  answer  on  the  instant,  clearly 
and  without  the  slightest  confusion,  or  distraction  of  his  purpose. 

"  Unexampled  success  attended  his  professional  efforts,  so  char- 
acterized by  shrewdness  and  zeal.  When  the  war  summoned  him 
from  these  toils,  he  had  a  larger  practice  than  any  other  man  in  the 
state.  I  have  no  doubt,  he  tried  four  times  more  causes,  at  least, 
than  any  other  lawyer,  during  the  ten  years  preceding  the  war. 
The  same  qualities  which  make  him  efficient  in  the  war,  made  him 
efficient  as  a  lawyer.  Fertile  in  resources  and  stratagem ;  earnest 
and  zealous  to  an  extraordinary  degree ;  certain  of  the  integrity  of 
his  client's  cause,  and  not  inclined  to  criticise  or  inquire  whether 
it  was  strictly  'constitutional'  or  not,  but  defending  the  whole 
line  with  a  boldness  and  energy  that  generally  carried  court  and 
jury  alike.  His  ingenuity  is  exhaustless.  If  he  makes  a  mistake 
in  speech  or  action,  it  has  no  sinister  effect,  for  the  reason  that  he 
will  himself  discover  and  correct  the  error,  before  any  'barren  spec- 
tator' has  seized  upon  it.  • 

"  He  is  faithful  and  tenacious  to  the  last  degree.  There  is  no 
possibility  of  treachery  in  his  conduct.  '  He  would  not  betray  the 
devil  to  his  fellow.'  Every  other  prominent  Massachusetts  demo- 
crat, when  it  became  profitable  to  do  so,  condemned  a  previous 
co  alition  that  had  been  entered  into  between  them  and  the  free- 
soilers  after  they  had  taken  and  consumed  its  fruits.  General  But- 
ler's political  interests  strongly  urged  him  to  the  same  dishonor. 
But  he  never  hesitated  an  instant,  and  uniformly  justified  the 
coalition,  and  openly  defended  it  in  every  presence  and  to  the  most 
unwilling  ears.  In  his  personal  relations  the  same  traits  are  obser- 
vable. He  is  quite  too  ready,  I  have  sometimes  thought,  to  for- 
give (he  never  forgets)  injuries,  but  his  memory  never  fails  as  to 
his  friends. 

" '  The  basis  of  Napoleon's  character,'  says  Gourgand,  '  was  a 
pleasant  humor.'  *  And  a  man  who  jests,'  continues  Victor  Hugo, 
1  at  important  junctures,  is  on  familiar  terms  with  events.' 

"  A  pleasant  humor  and  a  lively  wit,  and  their  constant  exercise, 
are  the  possession  and  the  habit  of  General  Butler.  Everybody 
has  his  anecdote  of  him.  Let  me  refer  to  one  anecdote  of  him  in 
this  respect,  and  that  shall  suffice  for  the  hundreds  that  I  might 
recall. 

"  The    general  was  a  member  of  our  house  of  representatives 


GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  31 

one  year,  when  his  party  was  in  a  hopeless  and  impotent  minority, 
except  on  such  occasions  as  he  contrived  to  make  it  efficient  by 
tactics  and  stratagems  of  a  technical,  parliamentary  character.  The 
speaker  was  a  whig,  and  a  thorough  partisan.  The  whigs  were 
well  drilled  and  had  a  leader  on  the  floor  of  very  great  capacity, 
Mr.  Lord,  of  Salem.  During  one  angry  debate,  General  Butler 
attempted  to  strangle  an  obnoxious  proposal  of  the  majority  by 
tactics.  Accordingly  he  precipitated  upon  the  chair  divers  ques- 
tions of  order  and  regularity  of  proceeding,  one  after  the  other. 
These  were  debated  by  Mr.  Lord  and  himself,  and  then  decided  by 
the  speaker  uniformly  according  to  the  notions  advanced  by  Mr. 
Lord.  The  general  bore  this  for  some  time  without  special  com- 
plaint, contenting  himself  with  raising  new  questions.  At  length, 
however,  he  called  special  attention  to  the  fact  that  he  had  been 
overruled  so  many  times  by  the  chair,  within  such  a  space  of  time, 
and  that,  as  often,  not  only  had  the  speaker  adopted  the  result  of 
Mr.  Lord's  suggestions,  but  generally  had  accepted  the  same  words 
in  which  to  announce  it ;  and,  said  he,  '  Mr.  speaker,  I  cannot  com- 
plain of  these  rulings.  They  doubtless  seem  to  the  speaker  to  be 
just.  I  perceive  an  anxiety  on  your  part  to  be  just  to  the  minority 
and  to  me,  by  whom  at  this  moment  they  are  represented,  for,  like 
Saul,  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  your  constant  anxiety  seems  to  be. 
Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?' 

"  No  man  in  America  can  remember  facts,  important  and  unim- 
portant, like  General  Butler.  Whatever  enters  his  mind  remains 
there  for  ever.  And  his  knowledge,  as  I  have  said,  is  available  the 
instant  it  is  needed,  without  confusion  or  tumult  of  thought.  The 
testimony  delivered  through  days  of  dreary  trials,  without  minutes 
or  memoranda  of  any  kind,  he  could  recall  in  fresher  and  more  ac- 
curate phrases,  remembering  always  the  substance,  and  generally 
all  the  important  expressions,  with  far  more  precision  than  the 
other  counsel  and  the  court  could  gather  it  from  their  'writing 
books,'  wherein  they  had  endeavored  to  record  it.  Practice  for  a 
long  series  of  years  had  so  disciplined  his  mind  in  this  respect  that 
I  think  it  quite  impossible  for  him  to  forget.  And  as  he  has  mingled 
constantly  with  every  business  and  interest  of  humanity  since  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  he  has  become  possessed  of  a  marvelous 
extent  and  variety  of  knowledge  respecting  the  affairs  of  mankind." 

These  passages,  written   by  men  conversant  with  the   bar  ot 


32  GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

Massachusetts,  and  who  knew  him  before  he  had  become  known  to 
the  nation,  are  better  for  our  purpose  than  the  observations  of  later 
friends.  They  illustrate  the  main  position,  that  General  Butler 
used  all  the  means  known  to  the  law  to  get  his  cases,  leaving  the 
whole  responsibility  of  maintaining  justice  to  those  who  made  and 
those  who  administered  the  laws. 

One  example  of  what  a  writer  styles  General  Butler's  legerde- 
main. A  man  in  Boston,  of  respectable  connections  and  some 
wealth,  being  afflicted  with  a  mania  for  stealing,  was,  at  length, 
brought  to  trial  on  four  indictments ;  and  a  host  of  lawyers  were 
assembled,  engaged  in  the  case,  expecting  a  long  and  sharp  con- 
test. It  was  hot  summer  weather ;  the  judge  was  old  and  indo- 
lent ;  the  officers  of  the  court  were  weary  of  the  session,  and  anxious 
to  adjourn.  General  Butler  was  counsel  for  the  prisoner.  It  is  a 
law  in  Massachusetts,  that  the  repetition  of  a  crime  by  the  same 
offender,  within  a  certain  period,  shall  entail  a  severer  punishment 
than  the  first  offense.  A  third  repetition,  involves  more  severity, 
and  a  fourth,  still  more.  According  to  this  law,  the  prisoner,  if 
convicted  on  all  four  indictments,  would  be  liable  to  imprisonment 
in  the  penitentiary,  for  the  term  of  sixty  years.  As  the  court  was 
assembling,  General  Butler  remonstrated  with  the  counsel  for  the 
prosecution,  upon  the  rigor  of  their  proposed  proceedings.  Surely, 
one  indictment  would  answer  the  ends  of  justice ;  why  condemn 
the  man  to  imprisonment  for  life  for  what  was,  evidently,  more  a 
disease  than  a  crime  ?  They  agreed,  at  length,  to  quash  three  of 
the  indictments,  on  condition  that  the  prisoner  should  plead  guilty 
to  the  one  which  charged  the  theft  of  the  greatest  amount.  The 
prisoner  was  arraigned. 

"  Are  you  guilty,  or  not  guilty  ?" 

"  Say  guilty,  sir,"  said  General  Butler,  from  his  place  in  the  bar, 
in  his  most  commanding  tone. 

The  man  cast  a  helpless,  bewildered  look  at  his  counsel,  and  said 
nothing. 

"  Say  guilty,  sir,"  repeated  the  General,  looking  into  the  prison- 
er's eyes. 

The  man,  without  a  will,  was  compelled  to  obey,  byl  c  very  con- 
stitution of  his  infirm  mind. 

"  Guilty,"  he  faltered,  and  sunk  down  into  his  seat,  crushed  with 
a  sense  of  shame. 


GENERAL   BUTLER   BEFORE   THE    WAR.  3i5 

"  Now,  gentlemen,"  said  the  counsel  for  the  prisoner,  "  have  I, 
or  have  I  not,  performed  my  part  of  the  compact  ?" 

"You  have." 

"Then  perform  yours." 

This  was  done.  A  JVol.  Pros,  was  duly  entered  upon  the  three 
indictments.  The  counsel  for  the  prosecution  immediately  moved 
for  sentence. 

General  Butler  then  rose,  with  the  other  indictment  in  his  hand? 
and  pointed  out  a  flaw  in  it,  manifest  and  fatal.  The  error  con- 
sisted in  designating  the  place  where  the  crime  was  committed. 

"  Your  honor  perceives,"  said  the  general,  "  that  this  court  has 
no  jurisdiction  in  the  matter.  I  move  that  the  prisoner  be  dis- 
charged from  custody." 

Ten  minutes  from  that  time,  the  astounded  man  was  walking  out 
of  the  court-room  free. 

The  flaw  in  the  indictment,  General  Butler  discovered  the  mo- 
ment after  the  compact  was  made.  If  he  had  gone  to  the  prisoner, 
and  spent  five  minutes  in  inducing  him  to  consent  to  the  arrange- 
ment, the  sharp  opposing  counsel,  long  accustomed  to  his  tactics, 
would  have  suspected  a  ruse,  and  eagerly  scanned  the  indictment. 
He  relied,  therefore,  solely  on  the  power  which  a  man,  with  a  will, 
has  over  a  man  who  has  none,  and  so  merely  commanded  the  plea 
of  guilty.  The  court,  it  is  said,  not  unwilling  to  escape  a  long  trial, 
laughed  at  the  maneuver,  and  complimented  the  successful  lawyer 
upon  the  excellent  "discipline"  which  he  maintained  among  his 
clients. 

This  was  a  case  of  legal  "  legerdemain."  Many  of  General  But- 
ler's triumphs,  however,  were  won  after  long  and  perfectly  con- 
tested struggles,  which  fully  and  legitimately  tested  his  strength  as 
a  lawyer.  Perhaps,  as  a  set-off  to  the  case  just  related,  I  should 
give  one  of  the  other  description. 

A  son  of  one  of  the  general's  most  valued  friends  made  a  voyage 
to  China  as  a  sailor  before  the  mast,  and  returned  with  his  consti- 
tution ruined  through  the  scurvy,  his  captain  having  neglected  to 
supply  the  ship  with  the  well-known  antidotes  to  that  disease,  lime 
juice  and  fresh  vegetables.  A  suit  for  damages  was  instituted  on 
the  part  of  the  crew  against  the  captain.  General  Butler  was  re- 
tained to  conduct  the  cause  of  the  sailors,  and  Mr.  Rufus  Choate 
defended  the  captain.     The  trial  lasted  nineteen  working  days. 


34  GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

General  Butler's  leading  positions  were :  1.  That  the  captain  was 
bound  to  procure  fresh  vegetables  if  he  could ;  and,  2.  That  he 
could.  In  establishing  these  two  points,  he  displayed  an  amount 
of  learning,  ingenuity  and  tact,  seldom  equaled  at  the  bar.  The 
whole  of  sanitary  science  and  the  whole  of  sanitary  law,  the  nar- 
ratives of  all  navigators  and  the  usages  of  all  navies,  reports  of 
parliamentary  commissions  and  the  diaries  of  philanthropical  in- 
vestigators, ancient  log-books  and  new  treatises  of  maritime  law ; 
the  testimony  of  mariners  and  the  opinions  of  physicians,  all  were 
made  tributary  to  his  cause.  He  exhibited  to  the  jury  a  large  map 
of  the  world,  and,  taking  the  log  of  the  ship  in  his  hand,  he  read 
its  daily  entries,  and  as  he  did  so,  marked  on  the  map  the  ship's 
course,  showing  plainly  to  eye  of  the  jury,  that  on  four  different 
occasions,  while  the  crew  were  rotting  with  the  scurvy,  the  ship 
passed  within  a  few  hours'  sail  of  islands,  renowned  in  all  those  sea? 
for  the  abundance,  the  excellence,  and  the  cheapness  oi*  their  vege- 
tables. Mr.  Choate  contested  every  point  with  all  his  skill  and 
eloquence.  The  end  of  the  daily  session  was  only  the  beginning  of 
General  Butler's  day's  work ;  for  there  were  new  points  to  be  in- 
vestigated, other  facts  to  be  discovered,  more  witnesses  to  be 
hunted  up.  He  rummaged  libraries,  he  pored  over  encyclopedias 
and  gazetteers,  he  ferreted  out  old  sailors,  and  went  into  court  every 
morning  with  a  mass  of  new  material,  and  followed  by  a  train  of 
old  doctors  or  old  salts  to  support  a  position  shaken  the  day  before. 
In  the  course  of  the  trial,  he  had  on  the  witness-stand  nearly  every 
eminent  physician  in  Boston,  and  nearly  every  sea-captain  and  ship- 
owner. Justice  and  General  Butler  triumphed.  The  jury  gave 
damages  to  the  amount  of  three  thousand  dollars ;  an  award  which 
to-day  protects  American  sailors  on  every  sea. 

Such  energy  and  talent  as  this,  could  not  fail  of  liberal  reward. 
After  ten  years  of  practice  at  Lowell,  with  frequent  employment  in 
Boston  courts,  General  Butler  opened  an  office  in  Boston,  and  thence- 
forward, in  conjunction  with  a  partner  in  each  city,  carried  on  two 
distinct  establishments.  For  many  years  he  was  punctual  at  the 
depot  in  Lowell  at  seven  in  the  morning,  summer  and  winter ;  at 
Boston  soon  after  eight ;  in  court  at  Boston  from  half  past  nine  till 
near  five  in  the  afternoon ;  back  to  Lowell,  and  to  dinner  at  half 
past  six ;  at  his  office  in  Lowell  from  half  past  seven  till  midnight, 
or  later.     When  the  war  broke  out,  he  had  the  most  lucrative  prac- 


GENEBAL   BUTLER   BEFOBE   THE   WAR.  35 

tice  in  Isew  England — worth,  at  a  moderate  estimate,  eighteen 
thousand  dollars  a  year.  At  the  moment  of  his  leaving  for  the 
scene  of  war,  the  list  of  cases  in  which  he  was  retained  numbered 
five  hundred.  Happily  married  at  an  early  age  to  a  lady,  in  whom 
are  united  the  accomplishments  which  please,  and  the  qualities  that 
inspire  esteem,  blessed  with  three  affectionate  children,he  enjoyed 
at  his  beautiful  home,  on  the  lofty  banks  of  the  tumbling  Merri- 
mac,  a  most  enviable  domestic  felicity.  At  the  age  of  forty,  though 
he  had  lived  liberally,  he  was  in  a  condition  to  retire  from  business 
if  he  had  so  chosen. 

Such  particulars,  in  an  ordinary  sketch  of  a  living  man,  would, 
perhaps,  be  out  of  place.  In  the  present  instance  they  constitute  part 
of  the  case.  I  hold  this  opinion :  that  no  man  is  fit  to  be  entrusted 
with  public  affairs  who  has  not  successfully  managed  his  own.  And 
this  other  opinion:  the  fact  that  a  man  has  conducted  his  own 
affairs  with  honorable  success  is  a  reason  for  believing  that  his 
management  of  public  affairs  has  been  just  and  wise. 

Mr.  Griffin  well  remarks  that  a  lawyer  in  great  practice  as  an 
advocate  has  peculiar  opportunities  of  acquiring  peculiar  knowl- 
edge. That  famous  scurvy  case,  for  example,  made  him  acquainted 
with  the  entire  range  of  sanitary  science.  A  great  bank  case  opens 
all  the  mysteries  of  finance ;  a  bridge  case  the  whole  art  of  bridge 
building ;  a  railroad  case  the  law  and  usages  of  all  railroads.  A 
few  years  ago  when  General  Butler  served  as  one  of  the  examiners 
at  West  Point,  he  put  a  world  of  questions  to  the  graduating  class 
upon  subjects  connected  with  the  military  art,  indicating  unexpected 
specialities  of  knowledge  in  the  questioner.  "  But  how  did  you 
know  anything  about  that  ?"  his  companions  would  ask.  "  Oh,  I 
once  had  a  case  which  obliged  me  to  look  into  it."  This  answer 
was  made  so  often  that  it  became  the  jocular  custom  of  the  com- 
mittee, when  any  knotty  point  arose  in  conversation,  to  ask  General 
Butler  whether  he  had  not  had  a  case  involving  it.  The  knowing- 
ness  and  direct  manner  of  this  Massachusetts  lawyer  left  such  an 
impression  upon  the  mind  of  one  of  the  class,  (the  lamented  Gene- 
ral George  G.  Strong,)  that  he  sought  service  under  him  in  the  war 
five  years  after.  This  curious  speciality  of  information,  particularly 
liis  intimate  knowledge  of  ships,  banks,  railroads,  sanitary  science, 
and  engineering,  was  of  the  utmost  value  to  him  and  to  the  country 
at  a  later  day. 


36  GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

And  now  a  few  words  upon  the  political  career  of  General  But- 
ler in  Massachusetts.  Despite  his  enormous  and  incessant  labors  at 
the  bar,  he  was  a  busy  and  eager  politician.  From  his  twentieth 
year  he  was  wont  to  stump  the  neighboring  towns  at  election  time, 
and  from  the  year  1 844,  never  failed  to  attend  the  national  conven- 
tions of  his  party.  Upon  all  the  questions,  both  of  state  and 
national  politics,  which  have  agitated  Massachusetts  during  the  last 
twenty  years,  his  record  is  clear  and  ineffaceable.  Right  or  wrong, 
there  is  not  the  slightest  difficulty  in  knowing  where  he  has  stood 
or  stands.  He  has,  in  perfection,  what  the  French  call  "the  courage 
of  opinion;"  which  a  man  could  not  fail  to  have  who  has  passed  his 
whole  life  in  a  minority,  generally  a  hopeless  minority,  but  a  minor- 
ity always  active,  incisive,  and  inspired  with  the  audacity  which 
comes  of  having  nothing  to  lose.  I  need  not  remind  any  American 
reader  that  during  the  last  twenty-five  years  the  democratic  party 
in  Massachusetts  has  seldom  had  even  a  plausible  hope  of  carrying 
an  election.  If  ever  it  has  enjoyed  a  partial  triumph,  it  has  been 
through  the  operation  of  causes  which  disturbed  the  main  issue, 
and  enabled  the  party  to  combine  with  factions  temporarily  severed 
from  a  majority  otherwise  invincible. 

The  politics  of  an  American  citizen,  for  many  years  past,  have 
been  divided  into  two  parts:  1.  His  position  on  the  questions  af- 
fected by  slavery.  2.  His  position  on  questions  not  affected  by 
slavery.  Let  us  first  glance  at  General  Butler's  course  on  the  class 
of  subjects  last  named. 

As  a  state  politician,  then,  the  record  of  which  lies  before  me  in  a 
heap  of  pamphlets,  reports,  speeches,  and  proceedings  of  delibera- 
tive bodies,  I  find  his  course  to  have  been  soundly  democratic,  a 
champion  of  fair  play  and  equal  rights.  In  that  great  struggle 
which  resulted  in  the  passage  of  the  eleven-hour  law,  he  was  a  can- 
didate for  the  legislature,  on  the  "  ten-hour  ticket,"  and  fought  the 
battle  with  all  the  vigor  and  tact  which  belonged  to  him.  A  few 
days  before  the  election,  as  he  was  seated  in  his  office  at  Lowell,  a 
deputation  of  workingmen  came  to  him,  excited  and  alarmed,  with 
the  news,  that  a  notice  had  been  posted  in  the  mills,  to  the  effect, 
that  any  man  who  voted  the  Butler  ten-hour  ticket  would  be  dis- 
charged. 

"Get  out  a  hand-bill,"  said  the  general,  "announcing  that  I  will 
address  the  workingmen  to-morrow  evening." 


GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  37 

The  hall  was  so  crammed  with  people  that  the  speaker  had  to  be 
passed  in  over  the  heads  of  the  multitude.  He  began  his  speech 
with  unwonted  calmness,  amid  such  breathless  silence  as  falls  upon 
an  assembly  when  the  question  in  debate  concerns  their  dearest 
interests — their  honor,  and  their  livelihood.  He  began  by  saying 
that  he  was  no  revolutionist.  How  could  he  be  in  Lowell,  where 
were  invested  the  earnings  of  his  laborious  life,  and  where  the  value 
of  all  property  depended  upon  the  peaceful  labors  of  the  men 
before  him?  Nor  would  he  believe  that  the  notice  posted  in 
the  mills  was  authorized.  Some  underling  had  doubtless  done 
it  to  propitiate  distant  masters,  misjudging  them,  misjudging  the 
workingmen  of  Lowell.  The  owners  of  the  mills  were  men  too 
wise,  too  just,  or,  at  least,  too  prudent,  to  authorize  a  measure 
which  absolutely  extinguished  government ;  which,  at  once,  invited, 
justified,  and  necessitated  anarchy.  For  tyranny  less  monstrous 
than  this,  men  of  Massachusetts  had  cast  off  their  allegiance  to  the 
king  of  Great  Britain,  and  plunged  into  the  bloody  chaos  of  revo- 
lution ;  and  the  directors  of  the  Lowell  mills  must  know  that  the 
sons  stood  ready,  at  any  moment,  to  do  as  their  sires  had  done 
before  them.  But  this  he  would  say :  If  it  should  prove  that  the 
notice  was  authorized ;  if  men  should  be  deprived  of  the  means  of 
earning  their  bread  for  having  voted  as  their  consciences  directed, 
then,  woe  to  Lowell!  "The  place  that  knows  it  shall  know  it 
no  more  for  ever.  To  my  own  house,  I,  with  this  hand,  will  first 
apply  the  -torch.  I  ask  but  this :  give  me  time  to  get  out  my  wife 
and  children.    All  I  have  in  the  world  I  consecrate  to  the  flames !" 

Those  who  have  heard  General  Butler  speak  can  form  an  idea  of 
the  tremendous  force  with  which  he  would  utter  words  like  these. 
He  is  a  man  capable  of  infinite  wrath,  and,  on  this  occasion,  he  was 
stirred  to  the  depths  of  his  being.  The  audience  were  so  power- 
fully moved,  that  a  cry  arose  for  the  burning  of  the  town  that  very 
night,  and  there  was  even  the  beginning  of  a  movement  toward  the 
doors.  But  the  speaker  instantly  relapsed  into  the  tone  and  line 
of  remark  with  which  he  had  begun  the  speech,  and  concluded 
with  a  solemn  appeal  to  every  voter  present  to  vote  as  his  judg- 
ment and  conscience  directed,  with  a  total  disregard  to  personal 
consequences. 

The  next  morning  the  notice  was  no  more  seen.  The  election 
nassed  peacefully  away,  and  the  ten-hour  ticket  was  elected.     Two 


38  GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  "WAR. 

priceless  hours  were  thus  rescued  from  the  day  of  toil,  and  added 
to  those  which  rest  and  civilize. 

The  possibility  of  high  civilization  to  the  whole  community — the 
mere  possibility — depends  upon  these  two  things :  an  evening  of 
leisure,  and  a  Sunday  without  exhaustion.  These  two,  well  im- 
proved during  a  whole  lifetime,  will  put  any  one  of  fair  capacity  in 
possession  of  the  best  results  of  civilization,  social,  moral,  intel- 
lectual, esthetic.  And  this  is  the  meaning  and  aim  of  democracy — 
to  secure  to  all  honest  people  a  fair  chance  to  acquire  a  share  of 
those  things,  which  give  to  life  its  value,  its  dignity,  and  its  joy. 
Justly,  therefore,  may  we  class  measures  which  tend  to  give  the 
laborer  a  free  evening  as  democratic. 

In  the  legislature,  to  which  General  Butler  was  twice  elected, 
once  to  the  assembly,  and  once  to  the  senate,  he  led  the  opposition 
to  the  old  banking  system,  and  advocated  that  which  gives  perfect 
security  to  the  New  York  bill-holder,  and  which  is  often  styled 
the  New  York  system,  recently  adopted  as  a  national  measure. 
He  had  the  courage,  too,  to  report  a  bill  for  compensating  the 
proprietors  of  the  Ursuline  convent  of  Charlestown,  destroyed, 
twenty  years  ago,  by  a  mob,  and  standing  now  a  blackened  ruin, 
reproaching  the  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.  It  is  said,  that 
he  would  have  succeeded  in  getting  his  bill  passed,  had  not  an  in- 
tervening Sunday  given  the  Calvinistic  clergy  an  opportunity  to 
bring  their  artillery  to  bear  upon  it.  He  represented  Lowell  in  the 
convention  to  revise  the  constitution  of  Massachusetts,  a  few  years 
ago,  and  took  a  leading  part  in  its  proceedings.  With  these  ex- 
ceptions, though  he  has  run  for  office  a  hundred  times,  he  has 
figured  only  in  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  minority,  climbing  toward 
the  breach  in  every  contest,  with  as  much  zeal  as  though  he  ex- 
pected to  reach  the  citadel. 

"  But  why  so  long  in  the  minority  ?  why  could  he  and  Massa- 
chusetts never  get  into  accord?"  This  leads  us  to  consider  his 
position  in  national  politics. 

Gentlemen  of  General  Butler's  way  of  thinking  upon  the  one 
national  question  of  the  last  twenty  years  have  been  styled  "pro- 
slavery  democrats."  This  expression,  as  applied  to  General  Butler, 
is  calumnious.  I  can  find  no  utterance  of  his  which  justifies  it ;  but 
on  the  contrary,  in  his  speeches,  there  is  an  evidently  purposed 
avoidance  of  expressions  that  could  be  construed  into  an  approba- 


GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  H9 

tion  of  slavery.  The  nearest  approach  to  anything  like  an  apology 
for  the  u  institution"  which  appears  in  his  speeches,  is  the  expression 
of  an  opinion,  that  sudden  abolition  would  be  ruin  to  the  master, 
and  a  doubtful  good  to  the  slave.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no 
word  in  condemnation  of  slavery.  There  is  even  an  assumption  that 
with  the  moral  and  philanthropic  aspects  of  slavery,  we  of  the  north 
had  nothing  to  do.  He  avowed  the  opinion,  that  we  were  bound 
to  stand  by  the  compromises  of  the  constitution,  not  in  the  letter 
merely,  but  in  the  spirit,  and  that  the  spirit  of  those  compromises 
bound  the  government  to  give  slavery  a  chance  in  the  territories. 

I  have  been  curious  to  inquire  of  Hunker  Democrats  in  Massa- 
chusetts how  this  subject  presented  itself  to  their  minds  in  former 
years,  so  as  to  lead  them  to  an  opinion  violently  opposed  to  the 
moral  feeling  of  the  communities  in  which  they  lived.  This  is  the 
more  puzzling,  from  the  fact  that  many  of  the  ablest  of  them  had 
not  the  slightest  expectation  or  desire  of  political  position,  but 
maintained  their  ground  for  half  a  lifetime  from  the  purest  convic- 
tion. I  have  read  to  some  of  these  gentlemen  the  conversation, 
published  a  year  or  two  since,  between  Commodore  Stuart  and  Mr. 
Calhoun  in  1812,  of  which  the  following  is  the  material  portion  : 

Mr.  Calhoun :  "I  admit  your  conclusion  in  respect  to  us  South- 
rons. That  we  are  essentially  aristocratic,  I  cannot  deny,  but  we 
can  and  do  yield  much  to  democracy.  This  is  our  sectional  policy ; 
we  are,  from  necessity,  thrown  upon,  and  solemnly  wedded  to  that 
party,  however  it  may  occasionally  clash  with  our  feelings  for  the 
conservation  of  our  interests.  It  is  through  our  affiliation  with  that 
party  in  the  middle  and  western  states  that  we  hold  power ;  but 
when  we  cease  thus  to  control  this  nation,  through  a  disjointed 
democracy,  or  any  material  obstacle  in  that  party  which  shall  tend 
to  throw  us  out  of  that  rule  and  control,  we  shall  then  resort  to  the 
dissolution  of  the  Union.  The  compromises  in  the  constitution, 
under  the  circumstances,  were  sufficient  for  our  fathers,  but  under 
the  altered  condition  of  our  country  from  that  period,  leave  to  the 
South  no  resource  but  dissolution ;  for  no  amendments  to  the  con- 
stitution can  be  reached  through  a  convention  of  the  people  under 
their  three-fourths  rule." 

Commodore  Stuart  (laughing  incredulously),  "Well,  Mr.  Cal- 
houn, ere  such  can  take  place,  you  and  I  will  have  been  so  long  ?ion 
est.,  that  we  can  now  laugh  at  its  possibility,  and  leave  it  with  com- 


iO  GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

placency  to  our  children's  children,  who  will  then  have  the  watch 
on  deck." 

Here  was  the  southern  programme  frankly  disclosed  just  fifty 
years  ago.  I  have,  also,  pointed  out  the  constantly  aggressive 
policy  of  the  southern  leaders ;  their  arrogance,  their  ceaseless  and 
violent  agitation  of  the  slavery  question  ;  absolutely  fore  ing  it  upon 
the  northern  mind,  and  constantly  supplying  the  abolitionists  of  the 
north  with  new  arguments  and  new  motives.  ISTow,  the  puzzling 
question  is  this :  How  could  men  of  spirit  and  discernment,  hav- 
ing no  political  aspirations,  submit  so  long  to  be  used  by  these 
people  for  their  purposes,  and  those  purposes  bad  ? 

Perhaps,  I  can  now  throw  a  little  light  upon  this  subject. 

Even  in  the  errors  of  honest  men  there  is  something  of  nobleness. 
The  basis  of  General  Butler's  interest  in  politics,  and  that  of  his 
hunker  friends  was,  and  is  an  entire  and  fond  belief  in  the  principles 
upon  which  this  government  was  founded,  and  an  intense  desire 
that  the  great  Experiment  should  gloriously  succeed.  Among  edu- 
cated Americans,  there  are  two  kinds  of  men,  namely,  democrats 
and  snobs.  The  gentlemen,  of  whom  I  speak,  are  democrats. 
In  the  very  strength  of  their  attachment  to  democratic  principles, 
is  to  be  found  the  cause  of  their  ignoring  the  claims  upon  our  con- 
sideration of  the  four  million  black  laborers,  who  earn  an  import- 
ant part  of  the  country's  revenue.  They  thought  that  any  ques- 
tion of  their  rights  was  petty  in  comparison  with  the  mighty  stake 
of  mankind  in  the  union  of  these  states,  and  the  triumph  of  demo- 
cratic institutions.  The  only  danger  to  the  Union,  as  they  thought, 
arose  from  the  agitation  of  questions  respecting  slavery,  and  they 
strove  with  all  their  might  to  avert  or  defer  it. 

Again :  The  leading  democrats  of  the  North  were  personally 
acquainted  with  the  leaders  of  the  South,  and  knew  that  they  were 
prepared  to  fight  for  slavery.  Republicans  were  incredulous  on 
this  point,  down  to  the  time  of  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter. 
They  were  accustomed  to  laugh  at  Mr.  Buchanan's  terrors  as  those 
of  a  weak  and  timorous  old  man,  and  to  despise  the  threats  of  the 
southern  fire-eaters  as  the  vaporings  of  demagogues  and  braggado- 
cios. Democrats  knew  better.  They  were  perfectly  aware  that 
the  South  was,  at  all  times,  ready  to  take  up  arms  the  moment  it 
should  feel  really  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  the  thing  they  call  their 
4  institution.'     As  Mr.  Choate,  one  day,  was  about  to  make  a  'union 


GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  41 

saving'    speech,  his  partner   and   son-in-law,  Major  Bell,  said  to 

him : 

"  Don't  you  think  the  people  are  getting  tired  of  this  sort  of 

thing?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Choate,  "  they  are  perfectly  sick  of  it.  They 
don't  believe  the  Union  in  danger.  But  if  they  knew  the  South  as 
I  know  it,  they  would  be  more  frightened  than  I  am." 

Such  men  as  Mr.  Choate  saw  the  open  abyss,  and  could  see  be- 
yond it — nothing!  The  spell  of  the  Union  once  broken,  what 
could  come  but  chaos  ?  This  terror  of  an  immeasurable  danger ; 
this  dread  of  a  convulsion  which,  having  occurred,  no  man  could 
foresee  any  probable  end  of  any  kind ;  this  look-out  upon  a  sea  of 
difficulty,  of  which  nothing  could  be  known  except  that  it  was 
tempest-tossed,  and  full  of  all  perils ;  it  was  this  that  made  so  many 
honest  patriots  shut  their  eyes,  on  principle,  to  the  moral  aspects 
of  slavery  questions,  and  impelled  them  to  concede,  and  concede, 
and  concede  to  the  slave  power.  And  thus  it  was,  that  the  very 
love  of  freedom  worked  to  the  support  of  slavery. 

At  the  same  time,  democrats,  though  they  had  some  external 
familiarity  with  slaveholders,  knew  nothing  about  slavery.  They 
did  not  wish  to  know  anything  about  it.  They  would  not  know 
anything  about  it.  They  shut  their  ears,  on  principle,  to  the  cry  of 
the  slave,  the  pleading  of  the  abolitionist,  and  the  arguments  of  the 
statesmen  who  strove  to  keep  the  giant  evil  from  spreading.  How 
easily  the  human  mind  excludes  from  itself  unwelcome  knowledge, 
is  known  to  all  who  have  observed  the  workings  of  their  own  minds. 

Besides :  If  the  South  used  the  democratic  party,  the  democratic 
party  used  the  South.  Each  was  absolutely  dependent  upon  the 
other  for  any  constitutional  success. 

And  yet  again:  Democrats,  looking  at  the  subject  through 
southern  eyes,  were  compelled  to  consider  questions  respecting 
slavery  in  a  practical  manner — as  questions  affecting  the  power,  the 
property,  the  existence  of  their  friends  and  others.  Men  of  the 
other  party  contemplated  the  subject  more  in  the  spirit  of  a  moral 
essayist ;  it  did  not  threaten  business  or  firesides ;  it  was  something 
abstract  and  remote.  One  party  propounded  moral  truths  and 
philanthropic  sentiments;  the  other  had  always  the  question  upper- 
most in  their  minds :  "  Well,  what  is  to  be  done  about  it  ?" 

I  do  not  suppose  that  the  fear  of  impending  danger  was  conscious- 


42  GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

ly  present  in  the  mind  of  General  Butler  in  those  years ;  but  it 
doubtless  had  its  influence.  A  ruling  motive  with  him  was  a  keen 
sense  of  the  sacredness  of  compacts.  Add  to  this  a  strong,  heredi- 
tary party  spirit,  and  some  willful  pleasure  in  acting  with  a  minority. 
In  his  speeches  on  the  slavery  question  there  is  candor,  force  and 
truth ;  and  their  argument  is  unanswerable,  if  it  be  granted  that 
slavery  can  have  any  rights  whatever  not  expressly  granted  by  the 
letter  of  the  constitution.  There  is  nothing  in  them  of  base  sub- 
serviency, nothing  of  insincerity,  nothing  uncertain,  no  vote-catch- 
ing vagueness. 

When  the  wretched  Brooks  had  committed  the  assault  upon 
Charles  Sumner  in  the  senate  chamber,  there  were  men  of  Massa- 
chusetts who,  surpassing  the  craven  baseness  of  Brooks  himself 
gave  him  a  supper,  and  stooped  even  to  sit  at  the  table  and  help 
him  to  eat  it.  General  Butler,  blazing  with  divine  wrath,  publicly 
denounced  the  act  in  Washington  in  such  terms  as  became  a  man, 
and  called  upon  Mr.  Sumner  to  express  his  horror  and  his  sympa- 
thy. He  saw  with  his  own  eyes,  and  felt  with  his  own  hands,  that 
the  wounds  could  only  have  been  given  while  the  senator  was  bend- 
ing low  over  his  desk,  absorbed  and  helpless. 

When  John  Brown,  the  sublime  madman,  or  else  the  one  sane 
man  in  a  nation  mad,  had  done  the  deed  for  which  unborn  pilgrims 
will  come  from  afar,  to  look  upon  the  sod  that  covers  his  bones, 
General  Butler  spoke  at  a  meeting  held  in  Lowell,  to  reassure  the 
alarmed  people  of  the  South.  This  speech  very  fairly  represents 
his  habit  of  thought  upon  the  vexed  subject  before  the  war.  He 
spoke  in  strong  reprobation  of  northern  abolitionists,  and  southern 
fire-eaters,  as  men  equally  guilty  of  inflaming  and  misleading  their 
fellow-citizens ;  so  that,  at  length,  it  had  come  to  pass,  that  neither 
section  understood  the  other.  "The  mistake,"  said  he,  "is  mu- 
tual. We  look  at  the  South  through  the  medium  of  the  aboli- 
tionist orators — a  very  distorted  picture.  The  South  see  us  only  as 
rampant  abolitionists,  ready  to  make  a  foray  upon  their  rights  and 
property." 

"It  is,"  he  continued,  "  the  province  of  such  meetings  as  this,  which  are 
now  being  holden  throughout  the  North,  to  correct  on  our  part  this  picture 
of  ourselves  to  our  southern  brethern,  to  convince  them  of  the  truth,  as  we 
believe  and  know  it — that  by  far  the  largest  portion  of  the  North  are  true 
in  heart  and  spirit  in  their  devotion  to  the  Union,  and  in  their  determination 


GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  43 

to  carry  out  the  only  principles  by  which  its  full  benefit  can  be  enjoyed  in 
the  fair,  just  and  honest  fulfillment  of  every  constitutional  requirement,  both 
in  spirit  and  in  letter,  with  each  slate,  and  to  the  whole  country. 

"And  let  us  not  be  taunted  with  '  truckling  to  the  South,'  or  seeking  to 
curry  favor  by  so  doing.  It  is  not  so ;  and  it  is  neither  correct  nor  manly  so 
to  state  it.  Let  us  fairly  appreciate  the  difference  of  our  position.  These 
questions,  which  to  us  locally  are  of  so  little  practical  consequence  as  hardly 
to  call  our  attention,  are  to  them  the  very  foundations  of  society — ominous 
of  rapine,  murder,  and  all  the  horrors  of  a  servile  war,  in  their  practical 
application. 

"  And  because  the  discussions  of  the  question  about  negro  emancipation 
do  not  disquiet  us  here,  we  should  be  blind  indeed  not  to  see  the  wide 
difference  of  such  discussions  to  them,  if  the  results  are  reduced  to  practice. 
Then  may  we  not,  ought  we  not,  who  are  so  little,  as  to  ourselves,  practically 
interested  in  this  matter,  take  the  first  step,  if  need  be,  toward  allaying  their 
excitement  on  this  subject  ? 

""We  claim  to  be  in  proportion  of  fifteen  millions  of  freemen  to  six 
millions.  Can  it  fairly  be  said  to  be  '  truckling,'  to  hold  out  to  them  the 
hand  of  amity  upon  a  cause  of  real  or  supposed  grievances  ?  It  would  not 
be  so  thought  amongst  belligerent  foreign  countries.  "We  are  the  stronger, 
as  we  consider  ourselves.  To  make  overtures  of  peace  to  the  weaker  ought 
to  be  considered  our  part  among  friendly  states. 

"Therefore,  I  began  by  saying:  'It  is  well  for  us  to  be  gathered  here.' 
Let  us  proclaim  to  all  men,  that  the  Union,  first  and  foremost  of  all  the  good 
gifts  of  God,  must  and  shall  be  preserved.  That  it  is  a  duty  we  recognize 
and  will  fulfill,  to  grant  to  every  part  of  the  country  its  rights  as  guaranteed 
by  the  constitution,  and  due  by  the  compact.  That  we  will,  and  every  part 
of  the  country  shall,  respect  those  institutions  of  every  other  part  of  tho 
country,  with  which  they  and  we  have  nothing  to  do,  save  to  let  them  alone, 
whether  they  are  palatable  to  us  or  not. 

"  "We  have  the  right  to  form  our  own  domestic  institutions  as  we  please, 
to  our  own  liking,  and  not  to  any  other  community's  liking,  and  will  exer- 
cise that  right,  and  under  the  constitution,  must  be  protected  in  that  right. 
Every  other  state  has  the  same  right  to  please  herself  in  her  own  institu- 
tions, and  is  not  obliged  to  please  us  in  her  selection  of  them ;  and  as  in 
duty,  and  of  right  bound  to  do,  we  will  protect  her  in  that  right,  whether 
we  like  them  or  not. 

"  Thus  doing  our  duty,  and  claiming  our  rights,  and  granting  those  of 
others,  as  every  man  will  do,  who  is  a  just  man,  and  not  a  thief — must  not 
the  union  be  perpetual?  Let  no  man  mistake  upon  the  matter.  This 
Union,  this  republic,  the  great  experiment  of  equal  rights,  this  power  of 
self-government  by  the  people,  this  great  instrument  of  civilization,  tho 
banding  together  of    the  intellectual  and  political  power  of  those  races 


44 


GENERAL  BUTLER  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 


which  are  to  civilize  the  world  by  their  energy  of  action,  is  not  to  fail,  and 
human  progress  be  set  back  a  thousand  years,  because  of  the  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  the  supposed  rights  and  interests  of  a  few  negroes. 

"As  well  might  the  peasant  expect  the  Almighty  to  stay  the  thunder 
storm,  which,  by  its  beneficent  action,  clears  the  atmosphere  of  a  nation 
from  pestilence,  lest  the  lightning  bolt  should  in  its  flash  kill  his  cow.  This 
Union  is  strong  enough  to  take  care  of  itself,  to  protect  each  and  every  part 
from  foreign  aggression  or  internal  dissension,  to  keep  everybody  in  it  that 
is  desirable  to  have  in  it,  to  take  in  everybody  that  ought  to  be  in  it,  and 
to  keep  out  everybody  that  is  not  wanted  in  it. 

"It  is  not  like  a  family,  because  its  members  must  never  separate  and 
divide  the  homestead.  It  is  not  like  a  partnership,  because  it  contains  no 
elements  or  period  of  dissolution.  It  is  not  like  a  confederation,  because  it 
contains  no  clause  or  means  by  which  one  or  more  of  its  members  can  with- 
'draw.  It  is  either  organization  or  chaos.  It  is  possible  that  it  may  crum- 
ble into  atoms.  It  cannot  be  split  in  fragments.  A  despotism  may  be 
erected  upon  its  ruins,  but  little,  snarling,  imbecile  republics  can  never  be 
made  from  its  pieces. 

"  'It  is  well,  then,  to  be  gathered  here.'  To  pledge  each  other  and  the 
South,  that  we  are  true  to  each  other  and  to  them.  To  assure  them  that 
we  and  we  alone  speak  the  true  voice  of  the  North.  That  threats  of  dis- 
union will  never  terrify  us  into  being  just  to  her  and  ourselves.  That  the 
North  shall  and  will  be  just  to  her,  because  she  respects  herself  as  well  as 
the  South.  To  assure  her  that  we  appreciate  her  difficulties,  and  sympa- 
thize with  our  southern  brethren,  because  we  understand  the  great  ques- 
tions which  agitate  them.  To  us  here  they  so  little  enter  into  our  affairs  as 
to  hardly  call  the  attention  of  any  of  us  who  have  anything  to  do,  save  to 
annoy  our  neighbors.  Yet  to  them  they  are  questions  of  order  or  anarchy, 
life  or  death. 

"  '  It  is  well,  then,  to  be  gathered  here.'  Again  to  pledge  ourselves  to 
each  other,  that  whenever  occasion  demands,  we  will  march  as  one  man  to 
protect  our  beloved  country  from  all  dismemberment,  and  to  bury  the  traitor 
who  shall  by  overt  act  attempt  it,  whether  he  be  a  member  of  the  Hartford 
convention,  aggrieved  because  of  a  commercial  question,  or  a  South  Caro- 
linian, aggrieved  because  of  a  tariff  question,  or  an  abolition  incendiary  who 
seeks  civil  war  and  bloodshed  at  Harper's  Ferry. 

"  That  to  us  no  '  star  in  our  glorious  banner  differeth  from  another  star 
in  glory,'  but  all  must  and  shall  shine  on  together  in  one  constellation,  to 
bless  the  world  with  its  benign  radiance  for  ever." 

Such  were  the  sentiments  of  General  Butler,  in  February  of  tho 
year  for  ever  memorable  to  Americans — 1860. 


IN  THE   CHARLESTON  CONVENTION.  46 


CHAPTER    n. 

IN  THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION. 

General  Butler  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  democratic  con- 
vention, held  at  Charleston,  in  April,  1860. 

He  went  to  Charleston  with  two  strong  convictions  on  his  mind. 
One  was,  that  concessions  to  the  South  had  gone  as  far  as  the 
northern  democracy  could  ever  be  induced  to  sustain.  The  other 
was,  that  the  fair  nomination  of  Mr.  Douglas,  by  a  national  demo- 
cratic convention  was  impossible. 

When  the  convention  had  been  organized,  by  the  election  of  Mr. 
Cushing,  of  Massachusetts,  to  the  chair,  a  committee  was  appoint- 
ed of  one  member  from  each  state,  for  the  purpose  of  constructing 
that  most  perplexing  piece  of  political  joinery,  a  Platform.  In 
this  committee,  General  Butler  represented  the  state  of  Massachu- 
setts. 

The  committee  met.  May  we  not  say,  that  in  the  room  which  it 
occupied  began  the  contention  which  now  desolates  large  por- 
tions of  the  southern  country.  What  transpired  in  the  committee 
room  has  been  related,  with  exactness  and  brevity,  by  General  But- 
ler himself. 

"  As  a  member  of  the  committee,"  he  says,*  "  I  felt  that  I  had 
but  one  course  to  pursue,and  I  held  that  with  unwavering  tenacity 
of  purpose.  It  was  to  obtain  the  affirmation  of  these  democratic 
principles,  laid  down  at  Cincinnati,  with  which  we  had  outrode  the 
storm  of  sectionalism  in  1856.  *  *  *  * 

"  With  these  views,  I  proposed,  in  committee,  the  following  reso- 
lution : 

"  '-Resolved,  That  we,  the  democracy  of  the  Union,  in  convention 
assembled,  hereby  declare  our  affirmance  of  the  democratic  resolu- 
tioDS  unanimously  adopted  and  declared  as  a  platform  of  principles 
at  Cincinnati,  in  the  year  1856,  without  addition  or  alteration  ;  bo- 

*  Speech  at  Lowell,  May  15  1SG0. 


46  IN  THE   CHARLESTON   CONVENTION. 

lieving  that  democratic  principles  are  unchangeable  in  their  nature, 
when  applied  to  the  same  subject-matter.' 

"  After  a  long  and  animated  discussion,  this  was  rejected  by  a 
vote  of  seventeen  states  to  sixteen ;  young  Oregon  giving  the  cast- 
ing vote  against  the  Cincinnati  platform,  to  which  and  the  democ- 
racy she  owed  her  existence  as  a  sovereign  state. 

"There  was  but  one  additional  resolution  which,  it  was  pro- 
posed, should  be  added,  and  that  is  as  follows : 

" '  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  extend 
its  protection  alike  over  all  its  citizens,  whether  native  or  natural- 
ized.' 

"  This  was  to  meet  the  case  of  the  contradictory  interpretations 
of  the  rights  of  foreign-born  citizens,  when  abroad,  made  by  the 
State  Department.  To  this  I  had  pledged  myself,  when  the  case 
arose.  It  is  but  just  to  add,  that  to  this  resolution,  no  opposition 
was  made.  The  propositions  of  a  majority  of  the  committee  were 
then  brought  forward,  and  by  the  same  majority  of  one,  were 
passed  through  the  committee.  They  provided,  in  substance,  for  a 
slave  code  for  the  territories,  and  upon  the  high  seas. 

"  Upon  these  two  propositions,  the  committee  divided ;  sixteen 
free  states  one  way,  and  fifteen  slave  states,  with  Oregon  and 
California,  the  other ;  and  the  difference  was  apparently  irreconcila- 
ble. Without  impugning  the  motives,  or  too  closely  criticising 
the  course  of  any  member  of  the  committee,  I  saw,  or  thought  I 
saw,  that  this  disagreement  was  rather  about  men  than  principles. 
It  seemed  to  me,  that  gentlemen  of  the  extreme  South  were  making 
demands  which  they  did  not  consider  it  vital  to  be  passed,  lest  a 
ma?i  should  be  nominated  distastefid  to  them,  and  men  from  the 
JSTorth  were  willing  to  make  concessions  not  desired  by  the  South, 
and  which  would  not  be  justified,  either  by  democratic  principles 
or  their  northern  constituencies,  in  order  to  the  success  of  their 
favorite  candidate. 

"  Subsequent  events  showed  the  correctness  of  this  opinion,  be- 
cause, after  the  minority  and  majority  of  the  committee  had  sepa- 
rated, sixteen  to  seventeen,  and  each  had  retired  to  make  up  its 
report,  and  when  the  sixteen  northern  states  had  nothing  to  do 
save  to  report  the  Cincinnati  platform,  pure  and  simple,  then  it  was 
that  three  gentlemen  came  into  the  room  where  the  minority  of  the 
committee  were  in  consultation,  and  announced  themselves  as  a  sub- 


IN   THE    CHARLESTON   CONVENTION.  47 

committee  of  a  caucus  of  the  friends  of  Judge  Douglas,  charged 
with  a  resolution  which  his  friends  desired  to  be  reported  to  the 
convention,  in  order,  as  the  chairman  said,  '  to  help  the  southern 
friends  of  Judge  Douglas.'  One  member  of  the  committee  on 
resolutions  (General  Butler)  immediately  raised  a  point  of  order. 
He  said  that  the  committee  of  the  convention  of  the  whole  democ- 
racy, could  not  act  under  the  dictation  of  a  caucus  of  anybody's 
friends ;  that  his  self-respect  would  forbid — that  the  report  of  the 
minority  of  the  committee  would  lose  all  moral  power,  if  they 
adopted  such  a  resolution  thus  presented.  The  point  of  order  of 
that  member  of  the  committee  was  overruled,  and  the  caucus  reso- 
lution was  received  and  adopted  in  the  minority  report,  almost  in 
the  words  in  which  it  was  presented  and  passed  in  the  caucus,  as 
follows : 

"  '  Resolved,  That  all  questions  in  regard  to  the  rights  of  property 
in  states  or  territories,  arising  under  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  are  judicial  in  their  character ;  and  the  democratic  party  is 
pledged  to  abide  by,  and  faithfully  carry  out  such  determination  of 
these  questions,  as  has  been,  or  may  be  made  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States.' 

"  This  resolution  was  insisted  upon  by  the  committee,  as  then 
constituted,  because  it  would  give  aid  and  ground  to  stand  upon  at 
home  to  the  southern  friends  of  Judge  Douglas.  Not  advocated 
on  principle,  not  claimed  for  the  North,  but  a  concession  to  the 
South,  which,  as  the  sequel  showed,  the  South  neither  desired, 
would  adopt  or  accept.  A  piece  of  expediency,  which  your  dele- 
gate would  '  neither  adhere  to  nor  carry  out.' 

"  To  him  it  seemed  quite  immaterial  whether  a  slave-code  was 
made  by  congress  or  the  decision  of  the  courts.  He  had  seen  some 
of  the  most  obnoxious  laws  made  by  judicial  decisions,  both  in 
England  and  in  this  country.  Indeed,  a  congressional  slave-code 
were  preferable  to  one  made  by  a  court,  because  the  former  could 
be  denned,  and  if  unjust,  could  be  repealed,  while  the  latter  might 
be  indefinite,  shifting  to  meet  the  exigency  of  the  case,  and  only 
limited  by  the  partnership,  or  restrained  by  the  consciences  of 
judges  holding  office  by  a  life-tenure,  even  if  they  were  appointed 
like  the  midnight  judges  '  of  John  Adams,'  in  the  last  hour  of  an 
expiring  administration,  upon  which  the  people  set  the  seal  of  rep- 
robation." 


48  IN  THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION. 

So  the  committee  could  not  agree.  General  Butler  adhered  to 
his  proposal  of  the  Cincinnati  platform ;  the  majority  adhered  to 
their  demand  for  a  slave-code  for  the  territories  and  protection  to 
the  slave  trade ;  the  minority  adhered  to  the  resolution  framed  by 
Mr.  Douglas,  which  left  all  questions  relating  to  slavery  in  the  ter- 
ritories to  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court.  On  returning  to 
the  convention,  therefore,  the  committee  furnished  three  reports,  one 
from  the  majority,  one  from  the  minority,  and  one  from  General 
Butler ;  all  agreeing  in  recommending  the  Cincinnati  platform  as  a 
basis ;  all  differing  as  to  the  nature  of  the  additional  "  planks." 

The  majority  report  proposed  four  additional  resolutions  re- 
specting slavery : 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  democracy  of  the  United  States  hold  these  car- 
dinal principles  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the  territories:  First,  That  con- 
gress has  no  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  territories.  Second,  That  the 
territorial  legislature  has  no  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  any  territory,  nor 
to  prohibit  the  introduction  of  slaves  therein,  nor  any  power  to  exclude 
slavery  therefrom,  nor  any  power  to  destroy  or  impair  the  right  of  property 
in  slaves  by  any  legislation  whatever. 

"  2.  .Resolved,  That  the  enactments  of  state  legislatures  to  defeat  the  faith- 
ful execution  of  the  fugitive  slave  law,  are  hostile  in  character,  subversive 
of  the  constitution,  and  revolutionary  in  their  effect. 

"  3.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  federal  government  to  protect, 
when  necessary,  the  rights  of  persons,  and  property  on  the  high  seas,  in 
the  territories,  or  wherever  else  its  constitutional  authority  extends.  (De- 
signed to  protect  the  reopened  slave  trade.) 

"4.  Resolved,  That  the  national  democracy  earnestly  recommend  the  ac- 
quisition of  the  Island  of  Cuba  at  the  earliest  practicable  period." 

The  minority  report,  introduced  by  Mr.  Payne  of  Ohio,  also  pre- 
sented the  Cincinnati  platform,  with  sundry  additions,  of  which  the 
following  are  the  important  ones : 

"1.  Resolved,  That  all  questions  in  regard  to  the  rights  of  property  in 
states  or  territories,  arising  under  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  are 
judicial  in  their  character;  and  the  democratic  party  is  pledged  to  abide  by 
and  faithfully  carry  out  such  determination  of  these  questions  as  has  been 
or  may  be  made  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  the  democratic  party  are  in  favor  of  the  acquisition 
of  the  Island  of  Cuba,  on  such  terms  as  shall  be  honorable  to  ourselves,  and 
just  to  Spain. 


IN  THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION.  49 

"  3.  Resolved,  That  the  enactments  of  state  legislatures  to  defeat  the  faith- 
fal  execution  of  the  fugitive  slave  law,  are  hostile  in  character,  subversive 
of  the  constitution,  and  revolutionary  in  their  effect." 

General  Butler  reported  the  two  resolutions  given  in  his  narra- 
tive. 

Such  were  the  three  reports.  The  first  was  supposed  to  express 
the  sentiments  of  the  party  who  afterward  selected  Mr.  Breckin- 
ridge as  their  candidate.  The  second  Was  the  Douglas  platform. 
The  third  conveyed  the  sense  of  northern  democrats,  who  were 
aware  that  the  Cincinnati  platform  conceded  all  to  the  South, 
that  the  North  could  concede.  Mr.  Douglas  perfectly  understood 
that,  and  he  invented  the  device  of  the  Supreme  Court,  to  delay  or 
confuse  the  issue.  Each  of  the  reports  was  explained  and  advo- 
cated at  much  length ;  the  first  by  Mr.  Avery  of  North  Carolina, 
the  chairman  of  the  committee  ;  the  second  by  Mr.  Payne  of  Ohio. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  day,  General  Butler  obtained  the  floor,  and 
spoke  in  support  of  his  views  to  a  house  crowded  and  excited  be- 
yond description,  amid  interruptions  more  entertaining  to  the  audi- 
ence than  helpful  to  the  speaker.  His  speech  was  ingenious  and 
amusing,  particularly  that  part  of  it  which  aimed  to  deprive  the 
Douglas  men  of  capital  borrowed  from  the  Supreme  Court.  Some 
of  the  personal  hits  produced  prodigious  effect. 

He  began  by  asking  members  around  him  why,  if  the  Cincinnati 
platform  was  so  defective,  they  had  given  it  such  enthusiastic  in- 
dorsement in  1856.  "I  am  told  that  it  maybe  subjected  to  two 
interpretations.  Will  any  man  here  attempt  to  make  a  platform 
that  will  not  be  subject  to  two  or  more  interpretations  ?  Why,  sir, 
when  Omniscience  sends  us  the  Divine  law  for  our  guidance  through 
life  and  our  hope  in  death,  for  2,000  years  almost  bands  of  men 
have  been  engaged  in  different  interpretations  of  that  Divine  law, 
and  they  have  sealed  their  honesty  of  purpose  with  blood — they 
have  burned  their  fellow  creatures  at  the  stake  as  an  evidence  of 
the  sincerity  of  their  faith."     (Laughter.) 

Adverting  to  the  resolution  which  was  evidently  designed  to 
throw  the  protection  of  the  national  flag  over  the  slave  trade,  he 
humorously  affected  to  be  ignorant  of  its  real  purpose.  "Our 
carping  opponents"  said  he,  "  will  see  in  it  what  I  am  sure  southern 
gentlemen  do  not  mean — the  reopening  of  the  African  slave  trade, 


50  IN  THE    CHARLESTON    CONTENTION. 

and  it  will  be  so  construed  that  no  man  can  get  rid  of  the  interpre- 
tation. It  will  be  proclaimed  from  every  stump,  flaunted  from  every 
pulpit,  thundered  from  every  lyceum  in  the  North,  until  we,  your 
friends — and  in  no  boasting  spirit  I  say,  without  us  you  are  power 
less— the  last  refuge  of  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  South  within 
the  Union  arc  stricken  down  powerless  for  ever ;  so  that  without 
farther  modification  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  adopt  the 
majority  report." 

He  proceeded  to  show  the  utter  nothingness  of  the  minority  reso- 
lution, referring  questions  in  dispute  to  the  Supreme  Court :  "  Now, 
men  of  the  North,  suppose  that  the  Supreme  Court  should  decide 
upon  questions  of  property  arising  in  the  states — and  I  hope  that 
there  is  no  danger  of  their  so  deciding — that  slavery  exists  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  that  it  was  forced  upon  us  by  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States — are  you  ready  to  carry  out  that  decision  ?  You 
might  have  to  submit  to  that,  but  would  you  not  move  at  once  for 
an  alteration  of  that  state  constitution  to  prevent  such  decision  tak* 
ing  effect,  and  adopt  such  other  remedies  as  your  good  judgment 
might  devise  ?  You,  men  of  the  South,  suppose  you  were  foolishly 
to  go  apart  from  us,  and  Mr.  Seward  were  to  be  elected  president. 
There  sit  to-day  upon  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  nine  judges, 
eight  of  whom  are  seventy  years  old,  three  of  them  so  debilitated 
that  they  may  never  take  their  seats  again.  What  happens? 
Without  any  act  of  congress,  Mr.  Seward  being  president  of  the 
United  States,  that  court  is  reorganized,  and  it  decides  that  slavery 
nowhere  exists  by  natural  law,  and  that  man  can  hold  no  property 
in  man.  What  are  you  to  do  then  ?  Are  you  to  abide  by  the 
decision  ?" 

Here,  Mr.  Reverdy  Johnson,  of  Maryland,  made  a  remark  im- 
plying that  it  became  the  representative  of  a  state  which  never  gav 
a  democratic  majority  to  be  modest  in  offering  advice  to  a  demo 
cratic  convention.    The  retort  was  ready : 

"  You  may  taunt  me  with  the  fact  that  I  am  speaking  for  poor  old 
Massachusetts,  that  has  never  given  a  democratic  vote  since  the  days 
of  Jefferson.  She  did  give  a  democratic  vote  then.  By  that  vote 
the  South  acquired  the  rich  inheritance  of  Louisiana,  and  I  see  here 
from  the  gulf  states  men  who  but  for  that  vote  I  never  would  have 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting,  except  as  subjects  of  Napoleon  IH. 
Then  do  not  taunt  me  with  speaking  for  a  state  that  can  not  give  an 


IN  THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION.  51 

electoral  vote.  I  feel  mortified  enough  about  it.  I  do  not  like  to 
be  taunted  with  it ;  I  do  not  think  it  quite  kind  in  my  friend  from 
Maryland  to  make  the  remark  he  did.  I  would  have  thought  it 
more  unkind  if  my  friend  from  Mississippi  had  said  anything  of  the 
kind,  but  I  thought  it  especially  unkind  in  my  friend  from  Maryland, 
because  he  violated  the  well-known  maxim  in  my  country,  that  the 
"  pot  should  never  call  the  kettle  black."     (Laughter.) 

Mr.  Johnson :  "  While  Maryland  obeys  the  laws  of  the  Union,  as 
she  has  ever  done  and  does  now,  she  considers  herself  equal  to  all 
other  states ;  but  when  she  refuses  to  acknowledge  even  the  force 
of  the  constitution,  and  the  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  she 
will  then  be  more  modest  in  the  expression  of  her  opinions." 

General  Butler :  "  Comparisons  are  odious,  but  I  say  that  any 
man  in  Massachusetts  can  walk  up  to  the  polls  and  vote  for  anybody 
on  earth  without  having  his  head  broken  by  a  cudgel."  (Great 
laughter.) 

Mr.  Johnson  attempted  to  reply,  but  General  Butler  would  not 
yield  the  floor. 

"  Very  well,  then,"  said  the  Marylander,  "  have  it  so." 

The  speaker  continued :  "  I  will  say  this  to  the  gentleman,  that 
everything  that  the  democratic  party  could  do  in  his  state  has  been 
nobly  done  to  protect  men  in  their  rights.  Will  he  give  old  Massa- 
chusetts the  same  credit,  that  everything  the  democracy  of  Massa- 
chusetts could  do  to  stand  by  the  constitution  and  the  Union,  the 
rights  of  his  state  and  my  own,  has  been  done  without  fear,  favor, 
affection,  or  hope  of  reward  ?  (Applause.)  Therefore,  I  say  again, 
that  I  do  not  like  to  be  told  that  this  platform  is  only  represented 
by  states  which  are  sure  to  give  electoral  votes  for  the  democratic 
candidate.  Let  me  call  the  attention  of  the  gentleman  from  Mary- 
land to  the  fact,  that  by  the  vote  from  his  state  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives got  a  black  republican  organization.  (Applause.)  And 
my  gallant  friends  from  Tennessee — are  your  skirts  quite  clear  ? 
And  how  stands  Kentucky — the  dark  and  bloody  battle-ground  ? 
She  has  five  to  five  in  the  house  of  representatives,  is  a  cipher 
there,  and  if  they  do  not  take  care,  will  be  a  cipher  in  the  electoral 
vote.  And  how  stands  the  old  state  of  North  Carolina.  Four  and 
four  in  the  house  of  representatives.  These  states  I  have  enumera- 
ted were  never  reliable  democratic  states,  and,  therefore,  I  have 
ventured  to  say,  that  I  have  a  good  right  to  speak  here  for  the 
3 


52  IN   THE   CHARLESTON    CC^.     ENTION. 

gallant  states  of  the  North,  who  have  sometimes  given,  and  always 
want  to  give,  democratic  votes." 

General  Butler  concluded  by  advising  the  convention  to  adopt 
his  report,  and  then  "nominate  some  firm,  trustworthy,  out-and-out, 
hard  working  democrat  for  president,  and  go  home  and  elect  him." 

The  convention,  after  debates  that  threatened  to  be  endless,  fol- 
lowed this  advice  in  part.  They  adopted  the  report  of  General 
Butler,  with  non-essential  alterations,  by  a  vote  of  230  to  40. 

Then  came  the  tug  of  war.  The  platform  completed,  it  remained 
to  select  a  man  to  stand  upon  it. 

"  The  whole  discussion  of  the  platform,"  says  General  Butler,  in 
the  narrative  quoted  above,  "  led  me  to  the  belief  that  the  difference 
was  about  men,  not  principles  ;  and  the  unfortunate  and  unjustifiable 
secession  of  eight  of  the  southern  states  by  their  delegates,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  justifies  the  statement.  When  they  went  out  of 
the  convention,  we  had  adopted  no  principles  but  those  to  which 
every  seceding  state,  and  many  of  the  seceding  delegates,  had 
been  pledged  only  four  years  since.  There  was  in  this,  therefore, 
no  disruption,  no  casus  belli,  no  justification  for  so  serious  a  step  as 
the  dismemberment  of  the  democratic  party,  and  endangering  the 
harmony  and  safety  of  the  Union. 

"  What  then  was  feared  by  the  seceding  states  ?  Evidently,  that 
the  majority  of  the  convention,  composed  of  northern  delegates, 
would  force  the  nomination  of  Judge  Douglas,  who  had  given  an 
interpretation  to  that  platform  to  which  the  southern  democracy 
would  not,  and,  as  their  delegates  claimed,  could  not  agree.  They 
said,  '  You,  of  the  North,  have  the  platform ;  and  if  you  will  put  a 
man  upon  it  that  has  given  an  interpretation  hostile  to  the  South, 
then  we  can  not  sustain  ourselves  at  home,  if  we  would,'  and  the 
more  ardent  of  the  southern  men  added,  c  we  would  not,  if  we 
could.' , 

"  That  there  was  this  fear  of  his  nomination,  was  made  certain 
by  the  act  of  Tennessee,  Virginia,  Maryland,  North  Carolina  and 
Kentucky,  who  remained  in  the  convention,  but  by  their  delegates 
insisted,  that  if  a  resolution  was  not  passed,  requiring  two-thirds  of 
the  whole  electoral  college  to  make  a  nomination,  they,  too,  would 
withdraw  from  the  convention ;  and  thereby  the  convention  must 
have  been  dissolved,  as  California  and  Oregon  would  have  gone 
with  them,  leaving  only  a  minority  of  the  states  in  number,  with  a 


IN   THE    CHARLESTON    CONTENTION.  63 

loss  of  every  democratic  state.  The  passage  of  this  resolution 
made  the  nomination  of  Judge  Douglas  simply  impossible ;  and, 
although  New  York  cast  her  thirty-five  votes  steadily  for  him 
afterward,  yet  she  voted  for  this  rule  which  would  render  her 
vote  for  Douglas  useless,  as  it  was  evident  to  all  that  more  than 
one-third  the  convention  was  unalterably  opposed  to  his  nomina- 
tion. 

"  I  believe  there  was  a  majority  opposed  to  him  in  fact.  Grant 
that  he  received  upon  one  ballot  a  bare  majority  of  the  whole  vote. 
But  how  was  that  majority  made  up  ?  Simply,  by  the  unit  rule, 
which  stifled  minorities  in  northern  states,  under  instructions.  In 
New  York,  there  were  fifteen  votes  opposed  to  Judge  Douglas, 
from  first  to  last,  yet  these  thirty-five  votes  were  cast  for  him  on 
every  ballot.  In  Ohio  six  votes,  in  Indiana  five  votes,  and  Minne- 
sota two  votes  were  opposed  to  him,  yet  by  that  rule  cast  for  him, 
so  that  the  majority  was  more  apparent  than  real.  The  southern 
states  generally  acting  without  direct  instructions,  by  a  cunningly 
devised  resolution  of  the  committee  on  organization,  were  for  the 
most  part  voting  separately,  so  that  all  of  Judge  Douglas's  strength 
in  the  southern  delegations,  substantially  appeared. 

Now,  with  the  South  opposed  to  Judge  Douglas,  even  to  the  dis- 
ruption of  the  party ;  with  every  democratic  free  state  voting  against 
him;  with  two-thirds  of  the  great  state  of  Pennsylvania  firmly 
against  him ;  with  one-half,  nearly,  of  New  York  hostile ;  New 
Jersey  divided,  and  the  only  state  in  New  England  where  the  de- 
mocracy can  have  much  hope,  Connecticut,  nearly  equally  balanced, 
what  was  it  the  part  of  wisdom  for  your  delegate  to  do  ?  Should 
he,  coming  from  a  state  where  there  was  no  hope  of  a  democratic 
electoral  vote,  persistently  endeavor  to  force  upon  the  democratic 
states  a  candidate  distasteful  to  them,  as  shown  by  those  votes,  inso- 
much that  they  were  ready  to  sunder  all  political  ties,  rather  than 
submit  to  his  nomination  ?  Were  his  preferences  and  yours  for  a 
given  man  to  be  insisted  on  at  all  hazards  ?  He  thought  not  then ; 
he  thinks  not  still.  ****** 

"  We  must  accept  facts  as  we  find  them.  A  truth  is  a  truth, 
however  unpalatable.  No  man  can  act  wisely  who  disregards  facts 
and  truths  in  shaping  his  course,  whether  in  political  or  other  ac- 
tions. '  I  would,'  must  always  wait  upon  '  I  ought.'  For  these 
reasons  before  stated,  I  found  Judge  Douglas's  nomination  an  im- 


54  IN    THE    CHARLESTON   CONVENTION. 

possibility,  without  a  disruption  of  the  party  and  throwing  away 
all  chance  of  success. 

"  You  may  say  this  is  a  great  misfortune.  Be  it  so.  It  is  a  fact 
upon  which  you  and  I,  fellow-democrats,  must  judge  and  act.  I 
found  a  very  large  majority  of  the  democratic  states  unalterably 
opposed  to  him.  '  Tis  true  'tis  a  pity,  and  pity  'tis,  'tis  true.'  I 
found  him  in  a  bitter  feud  with  a  democratic  administration,  and 
without  caring  to  inquire  which  is  to  blame  for  it,  such  conflict  is 
not  a  help  to  democratic  votes  in  a  closely  contested  election,  es- 
pecially when  the  democracy  desire  to  carry  the  state  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, where,  to  say  the  least,  the  administration  has  both  prestige 
and  power. 

"  I  found  also  that  Judge  Douglas  was  in  opposition  to  almost  the 
entire  democratic  majority  of  the  senate  of  the  United  States.  ISTo 
matter  who  is  right  or  who  is  wrong,  this  is  not  a  pleasant  position 
for  the  candidate  of  the  democratic  party.  I  found  him  opposed  by  a 
very  large  majority  of  the  democratic  members  of  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives. It  is  doubtless  all  wrong  that  this  should  be  so,  yet  so 
it  is.  I  have  heard  that  the  c  sweetest  wine  makes  the  sourest  vine- 
gar,' but  I  never  heard  of  vinegar  sour  enough  to  make  sweet  wine. 
Cold  apathy  and  violent  opposition  are  not  the  prolific  parents  of 
votes.  I  found,  worse  than  all  for  a  democratic  candidate  for  the 
presidency,  that  the  clerk  of  the  republican  house  of  representatives 
was  openly  quoted  as  saying  that  the  influential  paper,  controlled 
by  him,  would  either  support  Douglas  or  Seward,  thus  making  him- 
self, apparently,  an  unpleasant  connecting  link  between  them. 

"  With  these  facts  before  me,  and  impressing  upon  me  the  con- 
viction that  the  nomination  of  Judge  Douglas  could  not  be  made 
with  any  hope  of  safety  to  the  democratic  party,  what  was  I  to  do  ? 
I  will  tell  you  what  I  did  do,  and  I  am  afraid  it  is  not  what  I  ought 
to  have  done.  Yielding  to  your  preferences,  I  voted  seven  times 
for  Judge  Douglas,  although  my  judgment  told  me  that  my  votes 
were  worse  than  useless,  as  they  gave  him  an  appearance  of  strength 
in  the  convention  which  I  felt  he  had  not  in  the  democratic  party. 
If  this  was  an  error  it  was  your  fault. 

"  I  then  looked  round  to  throw  my  vote  where,  at  least,  it  would 
not  mislead  anybody.  I  saw  a  statesman  of  national  fame  and 
reputation,  who  had  led  his  regiment  to  victory  at  Buena  Yista,  a 
democrat  with  whom  I  disagreed  in  some  things,  but  with  whom  I 


IX   THE    CHARLESTON   CONVENTION.  55 

could  act  in  most.  Loving  his  country  first,  his  section  next,  but 
just  to  all — so  that  through  his  endeavors  in  the  senate  of  the 
United  States,  Massachusetts  obtained  from  the  general  government 
her  just  dues,  deferred  for  forty  years,  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars,  a  feat  which  none  of  her  agents  had  ever  been  able  to  accom- 
plish. Besides,  his  friends  were  not  pressing  his  name  before  the 
convention,  so  that  he  was  not  a  partisan  in  the  personal  strife  there 
going  on.  I  thought  such  a  man  deserved,  at  least,  the  poor  com- 
pliment of  a  vote  from  Massachusetts,  and  therefore  I  threw  my  vote 
for  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi ;  and  I  claim,  at  least,  that  that 
vote  was  guided  by  intelligence. 

"  Through  a  series  of  fifty-seven  ballotings,  the  voting  did  not 
materially  change.  Afterward,  almost  by  common  consent,  an 
adjournment  was  carried,  and  we  are  to  go  to  Baltimore,  on  the 
18th  of  June  next,  to  finish  our  work." 

General  Butler  went  to  Baltimore.  All  possibility  of  uniting  the 
party  was  there  prevented  by  the  immovable  resolve  of  the  friends 
of  Mr.  Douglas  to  force  his  nomination.  The  convention  was  again 
divided,  and  General  Butler  went  out  with  the  delegates  who  had 
a  determination  equally  fixed  to  defeat  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Doug- 
las. The  Douglas  men  nominated  their  chief  for  the  presidency. 
They  selected,  as  a  candidate  for  the  second  office,  Herschell  John- 
son, of  Georgia,  an  avowed  disunionist,  and  an  open  advocate  of 
the  slave  trade,  who,  at  a  public  meeting  in  industrial  Philadelphia, 
had  permitted  himself  to  say,  that  he  thought  "  it  was  the  best  plan 
for  capital  to  own  its  labor."  The  retiring  body  nominated  for  the 
presidency,  Mr.  Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky,  and  Mr.  Lane,  of  Ore- 
gon, for  the  vice-presidency.  These  candidates  received  from  Gen- 
eral Butler  an  energetic,  an  unwavering  support — the  only  kind  of 
support  he  ever  gave  to  anything. 

Let  us  see  how  the  four  parties  stood  in  the  contest  of  that  year. 

The  Cincinnati  platform  of  1856  said:  Let  the  people  in  each 
territory  decide,  when  they  form  a  constitution,  whether  they  will 
come  into  the  L^mon  as  a  slave  state  or  as  a  free  state. 

But  the  delay  in  the  admission  of  Kansas,  gave  intense  interest 
to  the  question,  whether  slavery  could  exist  in  a  territory  before  its 
admission. 

This  was  the  issue  in  1860. 

The  republican  platform  said :  !NTo,  it  can  not  exist.     Freedom  is 


56  IN  THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION. 

the  normal  condition  of  all  territory.  Slavery  can  exist  only  "by  local 
law.  There  is  no  authority  anywhere  competent  to  legalize  slavery 
in  a  territory  of  the  United  States.  The  Supreme  Court  can  not 
do  it.  Congress  can  not  do  it.  The  territorial  legislature  can  not 
do  it. 

The  Douglas  platform  said :  We  do  not  know  whether  slavery 
can  exist  in  a  territory  or  not.  There  is  a  difference  of  opinion 
among  us  upon  the  subject.  The  Supreme  Court  must  decide,  and 
its  decision  shall  be  final  and  binding. 

The  Breckinridge  platform  said:  Slavery  lawfully  exists  in  a 
territory  the  moment  a  slave-owner  enters  it  with  his  slaves.  The 
United  States  is  bound  to  maintain  his  right  to  hold  slaves  in  a  ter- 
ritory. But  when  the  people  of  the  territory  frame  a  state  consti- 
tution, they  are  to  decide  whether  to  enter  the  Union  as  a  slave  or 
as  a  free  state.  If  as  a  slave  state,  they  are  to  be  admitted  without 
question.  If  as  a  free  state,  the  slave  owners  must  retire  or  emanci- 
pate. 

The  Bell  and  Everett  party,  declining  to  construct  a  platform, 
expressed  no  opinion  upon  the  question  at  issue. 

Thus,  of  the  four  parties  in  the  field,  two  only  had  the  courage  to 
look  the  state  of  things  in  the  face,  and  to  avow  a  positive  convic- 
tion, namely,  the  republicans  and  the  Breckinridge  men.  These 
two,  alone,  made  platforms  upon  which  an  honest  voter  could  intel- 
ligently stand.  The  other  parties  shirked  the  issue,  and  meant  to 
shirk  it.  The  most  pitiable  spectacle  ever  afforded  in  the  politics 
of  the  United  States,  was  the  stump  wrigglings  of  Mr.  Douglas  du- 
ring the  campaign,  when  he  taxed  all  his  great  ingenuity  to  seem  to 
say  something  that  should  win  votes  in  one  section,  without 
losing  votes  in  the  other.  Tragical  as  the  end  was  to  him,  all 
men  felt  that  his  disappointment  was  just,  though  they  would  have 
gladly  seen  him  recover  from  the  shock,  take  the  bitter  lesson  to 
heart,  and  join  with  his  old  allies  in  saving  the  country. 

Before  leaving  Baltimore,  the  leaders  of  the  Breckinridge  party 
came  to  an  explicit  understanding  upon  two  important  points. 

First,  the  northern  men  received  from  Mr.  Breckinridge  and  his 
southern  supporters,  not  merely  the  strongest  possible  declarations 
of  devotion  to  the  Union  and  the  Constitution,  but  a  particular  dis- 
avowal and  repudiation  of  the  cry  then  heard  all  over  the  South, 
that  in  case  of  the  success  of  the  republican  party,  the  South  would 


IN  THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION.  57 

Becede.  There  is  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the  well-informed,  that 
Bfljjr.  Breckinridge  was  sincere  in  these  professions,  and  it  is  known 
that  he  adhered  to  the  Union,  in  his  heart,  down  to  the  time  when 
war  became  evidently  inevitable.  There  is  reason,  too,  to  believe 
that  he  has  since  bitterly  regretted  having  abandoned  the  cause  of 
his  country. 

Secondly,  the  Breckinridge  leaders  at  Baltimore  arranged  their 
programme  of  future  operations.  They  were  aware  of  the  certainty 
of  their  defeat.  In  all  probability,  the  republicans  would  come  into 
power.  That  party  (as  the  Breckinridge  democrats  supposed)  be- 
ing unused  to  govern,  and  inheriting  immense  and  unexampled 
difficulties,  would  break  down,  would  quarrel  among  themselves, 
would  become  ridiculous  or  offensive,  and  so  prepare  the  way  for 
the  triumphant  return  of  the  democracy  to  power  in  1865.  Mr. 
Douglas,  too,  they  thought,  would  destroy  himself,  as  a  political 
power,  by  having  wantonly  broken  up  his  party.  The  democrats, 
then,  would  adhere  to  their  young  and  popular  candidate,  and  elect 
him;  if  not  in  1864,  then  in  1868. 

Having  concluded  these  arrangements,  they  separated,  to  meet  in 
Washington  after  the  election,  and  renew  the  compact,  or  else  to 
change  it  to  meet  any  unexpected  issue  of  the  campaign. 

On  his  return  to  Lowell,  General  Butler  found  himself  the  most 
unpopular  man  in  Massachusetts.  Not  that  Massachusetts  approved 
the  course  or  the  character  of  Mr.  Douglas.  Not  that  Massachu- 
setts was  incapable  of  appreciating  a  bold  and  honest  man,  who 
stood  in  opposition  to  her  cherished  sentiments.  It  was  because 
she  saw  one  of  her  public  men  acting  in  conjunction  with  the  party 
which  seemed  to  her  identified  with  that  which  threatened  a  dis- 
ruption to  the  country  if  it  should  be  fairly  beaten  in  an  election. 
The  platform  of  that  party  was  profoundly  odious  to  her.  It  ap- 
peared to  her,  not  merely  erroneous,  but  immoral  and  monstrous, 
and  she  could  not  but  feel  that  the  northern  supporters  of  it  were 
guilty  of  a  kind  of  subserviency  that  bordered  upon  baseness.  She 
did  not  understand  the  series  of  events  which  would  have  compelled 
Mr.  Douglas,  if  he  had  been  elected,  to  go  to  unimagined  lengths 
in  quieting  the  apprehensions  of  the  South.  She  could  not,  in  that 
time  of  intense  excitement,  pause  to  consider,  that  if  General  But- 
ler's course  was  wrong,  it  was,  at  least,  disinterested  and  unequivocal. 

He  was  hooted  in  the  streets  of  Lowell,  and  a  public  meeting,  at 


58  IX   THE    CHARLESTON   CONTENTION. 

which  he  was  to  give  an  account  of  his  stewardship,  was  broken  up 
by  a  mob. 

A  second  meeting  was  called.  General  Butler  then  obtained  a 
hearing,  and  justified  his  course  in  a  speech  of  extraordinary  force  ' 
and  cogency.  He  characterized  the  Douglas  ticket  as  "  two-faced," 
designed  to  win  both  sections,  by  deceiving  both.  "  Hurrah  for 
Johnson!  he  goes  for  intervention.  Hurrah  for  Douglas !  he  goes  for 
non-intervention  unless  the  Supreme  Court  tells  him  to  go  the  other 
way.  Hurrah  for  Johnson !  he  goes  against  popular  sovereignty. 
Hurrah  for  Douglas !  he  goes  for  popular  sovereignty  if  the  Su- 
preme Court  will  let  him !  Hurrah  for  Johnson !  he  is  for  disun- 
ion !     Hurrah  for  Douglas !  he  is  for  the  Union." 

He  met  the  charge  brought  against  Mr.  Breckinridge  of  sym- 
pathy with  southern  disunionists.  u  In  a  speech,  but  a  day  or  two 
since  at  Frankfort,  in  the  presence  of  his  life-long  friends  and  po- 
litical opponents,  who  could  have  gainsayed  the  declaration  if  it 
were  not  true,  Mr.  Breckinridge  proudly  said  : — '  I  am  an  Ameri- 
can and  a  Kentuckian,  who  never  did  an  act  nor  cherished  a  thought 
that  was  not  full  of  devotion  to  the  constitution  and  the  Union.' 
Proud  words,  proudly  spoken,  and  incapable  of  contradiction.  Yet 
we,  who  support  this  gallant  and  conservative  leader,  are  called  dis- 
unionists, and  charged  with  being  untrue  to  democracy.  By  whom 
is  this  charge  made  ?  By  Pierre  Soule,  an  avowed  disunionist,  in 
Louisiana ;  by  John  Forsyth  and  the  '  Atlanta  Confederacy,'  in 
Georgia,  which  maintains  the  duty  of  the  South  to  leave  the  Union 
if  Lincoln  is  elected ;  and  yet  these  same  men  are  the  foremost  of 
the  southern  supporters  of  Douglas ;  by  Gaulding,  of  Georgia,  who 
is  now  stumping  the  state  for  Douglas,  making  the  same  speech 
that  he  made  in  the  convention  at  Baltimore,  where  he  argued  that 
non-intervention  meant  that  congress  had  no  power  to  prevent  the 
exportation  of  negroes  from  Africa,  and  that  the  slave  trade  was 
the  true  popular  sovereignty  in  full  expansion. 

"Would  you  believe  it,  fellow-citizens,  this  speech  was  ap- 
plauded in  the  Douglas  convention,  and  that  too,  by  a  delegate  from 
Massachusetts,  ay,  and  from  Middlesex  county. 

"  When  I  left  that  convention,  I  declared  that  I  would  no  longer 
sit  where  the  African  slave  trade,  made  piracy  and  felony  by  the 
laws  of  my  country,  was  openly  advocated  and  applauded.  Yet 
such,  at  the  South,  are  the  supporters  of  Douglas." 


MASSACHUSETTS    READY.  59 

General  Butler  was  the  Breckinridge  candidate  for  the  governor- 
ship of  Massachusetts.  He  had  been  a  candidate  for  the  same 
office  a  few  years  before,  and  had  received  the  full  support  of  his 
party,  about  50,000  votes.  On  this  occasion  only  6,000  of  his 
fellow-citizens  cast  their  votes  for  him ;  the  whole  number  of  voters 
being  more  than  170,000. 


CHAPTER  HI. 


MASSACHUSETTS    EEADY. 


Perhaps  the  commonest  mistake  made  in  commenting  upon 
human  actions,  is  to  overrate  the  understanding,  and  underrate  the 
moral  worth  of  the  actor.  We  natter  ourselves  that  we  are  very 
great  and  very  bad  beings  ;  the  humiliating  truth  seems  to  be,  that 
we  are  rather  good  and  extremely  little.  Mr.  Dickens  has  a  char- 
acter in  one  of  his  novels,  who  was  fond  of  giving  out  that  he  was 
born  in  a  ditch,  and  struggled  up  from  that  lowly  estate  to  the  po- 
sition of  a  man  whose  check  was  good  for  any  number  of  thousands 
of  pounds  ;  but  it  came  out  at  last,  that  he  was  born  'of  "  poor  but 
respectable  parents,"  who  had  given  him  the  rudiments  of  educa- 
tion in  the  most  ordinary  and  common-place  way.  The  blustering 
fool  could  not  face  the  homely,  creditable  truth  of  his  origin,  and 
so  invented  the  nattering  lie,  that  he  was  the  castaway  offspring  of 
a  stroller.  A  vanity  of  this  kind  is  common  to  the  race.  We  do 
not,  as  a  general  thing,  purposely  deceive  ourselves,  but  it  appears 
to  be  universally  taken  for  granted,  that  man  is  a  tremendous  crea- 
ture, capable  of  seeing  the  end  from  the  beginning,  and  accustomed 
to  form  plans  which  contemplate  and  cause  the  actual  issue.  This 
delusion,  I  suppose,  is  nourished,  by  our  constantly  viewing  the  re- 
sults of  human  ingenuity  in  vast  accumulation.  We  omit  to  con- 
sider, that  it  took  all  the  lifetime  of  man  to  build  the  Great  Eastern, 
and  that  a  new  suit  of  Sunday  clothes  is  the  result  of  the  severe 
cogitation  and  laboriously  gathered  knowledge  of  all  the  ingenious 
tailors  that  ever  lived,  to  say  nothing  of  the  inventive  weavers,  cur- 
riers, and  shoemakers. 
3* 


30  MASSACHUSETTS   READY. 

Hence,  when  a  great  thing  has  occurred,  like  this  rebellion  of  the 
slave  power  against  the  power  which  alone  could  protect  it,  we  are 
apt  to  imagine  that  it  was  all  deliberately  and  deeply  planned  before- 
hand. The  final  history  of  the  war,  when  it  comes  to  be  written, 
many  years  hence,  will  probably  disclose  that  there  was  not  much 
actual  planning.  The  event  was  of  the  nature  of  a  conflagration. 
There  had  been,  indeed,  for  thirty  years,  a  most  diligent  collection 
of  combustible  matter.  Every  oratorial  demagogue  had  wildly 
tossed  his  bundle  of  painted  sticks  upon  the  heap,  and  such  men  as 
Calhoun  had  burrowed  through  the  mass,  and  inserted  some  solid- 
looking  timbers  of  false  doctrine  ;  and  the  necessities  of  despotism 
had  built  a  wall  around  it,  so  that  the  fire-apparatus  of  outside  civi- 
lization could  not  be  brought  to  bear.  In  such  circumstances,  there 
is  no  great  need  of  plan,  when  mere  destruction  is  the  object.  A 
few  long  heads,  like  John  Siidell,  with  the  aid  of  a  few  madmen  in 
Charleston,  were  competent  to  apply  the  requisite  number  of 
matches,  and  blow  upon  the  'Ticipient  flames.  It  will  probably  ap- 
pear, that  those  who  have  since  been  most  conspicuous  in  control- 
ling the  movement,  were  men  who  hung  back  from  inaugurating  it ; 
men  who  would  have  preferred  to  remain  in  the  Union,  and  who 
were  as  much  "  carried  away''  by  the  rush  of  events,  as  the  planters 
of  North  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Louisiana,  are  known  to  have 
been. 

In  December,  1860,  Mr.  Lincoln  having  been  elected,  and  con- 
gress met,  General  Butler  went  to  Washington,  according  to  the 
agreement  at  Baltimore,  in  June,  to  confer  with  democratic  lead- 
ers upon  the  future  course  of  the  party.  South  Carolina  had  gone 
through  the  form  of  seceding  from  the  Union,  and  her  three  com- 
missioners were  at  the  capital,  to  present  to  the  president  the  ordi- 
nance of  secession,  and  negotiate  the  terms  of  separation.  Regard- 
ing themselves  in  the  light  of  ambassadors,  and  expecting  a  long 
negotiation,  they  had  taken  a  house,  which  served  as  the  head- 
quarters of  the  malcontents.  Excitement  and  apprehension  per- 
vaded all  circles.  General  Butler,  in  visiting  his  southern  friends, 
found  that  most  of  them  considered  secession  a  fact  accomplished, 
nothing  remaining  but  to  arrange  the  details.  Mr.  Breckinridge, 
however,  still  steadfast  to  his  pledges,  indignant,  sorrowful,  was 
using  his  influence  to  bring  about  a  convention  of  the  border  states, 
which  should  stand  between  the  two  hostile  bodies,  and  compel 


MASSACHUSETTS    READY.  61 

both  +o  make  the  concessions  supposed  to  be  necessary  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Union.  By  clay  and  night,  he  strove  to  stem 
the  torrent  of  disaffection,  and  briug  the  men  of  the  South  to  reason. 
He  strove  in  vain.  The  movement  which  he  endeavored  to  effect 
was  defeated  by  Virginians,  particularly  by  Mason  and  Hunter. 
Finding  his  plan  impossible,  he  went  about  Washington,  pale  and 
haggard,  the  picture  of  despair,  and  sought  relief,  it  is  said,  where 
despairing  southern  men  are  too  apt  to  seek  it,  in  the  whisky 
bottle. 

"  What  does  all  this  mean  ?"  asked  General  Butler,  of  an  old 
southern  democrat,  a  few  hours  after  his  arrival  in  Washington. 

"  It  means  simply  what  it  appears  to  mean.  The  Union  is  dead. 
The  experiment  is  finished.  The  attempt  of  two  connnunities,  hav- 
ing no  interest  in  common,  abhorring  one  another,  to  make  believe 
that  they  are  one  nation,  has  ceased  for  ever.  We  shall  establish  a 
sound,  homogeneous  government,  with  no  discordant  elements. 
We  shall  have  room  for  our  northern  friends.     Come  with  us." 

"  Have  you  counted  the  cost  ?  Do  you  really  think  you  can  break 
up  this  Union  ?     Do  you  think  so  yourself?" 

"I  do." 

"  You  are  prepared,  then,  for  civil  war?  You  mean  to  biing  this 
thing  to  the  issue  of  arms  ?" 

"  Oh,  there  will  be  no  war.     The  North  won't  fight." 

"The  North  will  fight." 

"The  North  won't  fight." 

"The  North  will  fight." 

"  The  North  earit  fight.  We  have  friends  enough  at  the  North 
to  prevent  it." 

"  You  have  friends  at  the  North  as  long  as  you  remain  true  to  the 
constitution.  But  let  me  tell  you,  that  the  moment  it  is  seen  that 
you  mean  to  break  up  the  country,  the  North  is  a  unit  against  you. 
I  can  answer,  at  least,  for  Massachusetts.  She  is  good  for  ten 
thousand  men  to  march,  at  once,  against  armed  secession." 

"  Massachusetts  is  not  such  a  fool.  If  your  state  should  send  ten 
thousand  men  to  preserve  the  Union  against  southern  secession,  she 
will  have  to  fight  twice  ten  thousand  of  her  own  citizens  at  home 
who  will  oppose  the  policy." 

"  No,  sir ;  when  we  come  from  Massachusetts  we  shall  not  leave 
a  single  traitor  behind,  unless  he  is  hanging  on  a  tree." 


62  MASSACHUSETTS   EEADT. 

"  Well,  we  shall  see." 

"  You  will  see.  I  know  something  of  the  North,  and  a  good  deal 
about  New  England,  where  I  was  born  and  have  lived  forty-two 
years.  We  are  pretty  quiet  there  now  because  we  don't  believe 
that  you  mean  to  carry  out  your  threats.  We  have  heard  the  same 
story  at  every  election  these  twenty  years.  Our  people  don't  yet 
believe  you  are  in  earnest.  But  let  me  tell  you  this:  As  sure  as  you 
attempt  to  break  up  this  Union,  the  North  will  resist  the  attempt 
to  its  last  man  and  its  last  dollar.  You  are  as  certain  to  fail  as  that 
there  is  a  God  in  Heaven.  One  thing  you  may  do :  you  may  ruin 
the  southern  states,  and  extinguish  your  institution  of  slavery. 
From  the  moment  the  first  gun  is  fired  upon  the  American  flag, 
your  slaves  will  not  be  worth  five  years'  purchase.  But  as  to  break- 
ing up  the  country,  it  can  not  be  done.  God  and  nature,  and  the 
blood  of  your  fathers  and  mine  have  made  it  one ;  and  one  country 
it  must  remain." 

And  so  the  war  of  words  went  on.  The  general  visited  his  old 
acquaintances,  the  South  Carolina  commissioners,  and  with  them  he 
had  similar  conversations ;  the  substance  of  all  being  this : 

Secessionists :  "  The  North  won't  fight." 

General  Butler:  "The  North  will  fight." 

Secessionists :  "  If  the  North  fights,  its  laborers  will  starve  and 
overturn  the  government." 

General  Butler :  "  If  the  South  fights,  there  is  an  end  of  slavery." 

Secessionists :  "  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  yourself  would  fight 
in  such  a  cause  ?" 

General  Butler :  "  I  would ;  and,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  will." 

The  general  sat  at  the  table,  once  more,  of  Jefferson  Davis,  for 
whom  he  had  voted  in  the  Charleston  convention.  Mr.  Davis,  at 
that  time,  appeared  still  to  wish  for  a  compromise  and  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  Union.  But  he  is  a  politician.  He  gave  in  to  the  sen- 
timent, that  he  owed  allegiance,  first,  to  the  state  of  Mississippi ; 
secondly,  to  the  United  States;  which  is  the  same  as  saying  that  he 
owed  no  allegiance  to  the  United  States  at  all.  So,  if  a  majority 
of  the  legislature  of  Mississippi  should  pronounce  for  secession,  he 
was  bound  to  abandon  that  which,  for  fifty  years,  he  had  been 
proud  to  call  his  "  country." 

In  times  like  those,  every  man  of  originating  mind  has  his  scheme. 
If  in  the  multitude  of  counselors  there  were  safety,  no  country  had 


MASSACHUSETTS    READY.  63 

been  safer  than  this  country  was  in  December,  1860,  when  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan was  assailed  and  confounded  with  advice  from  all  quarters, 
near  and  remote,  from  friends  and  foes.  General  Butler,  too,  had 
an  idea.  As  a  leading  member  of  the  party  in  power,  he  was  en- 
titled to  be  listened  to,  and  he  was  listened  to.  Mr.  Black,  the 
legal  adviser  of  the  government,  had  given  it  as  his  opinion,  that 
the  proceedings  of  South  Carolina  were  legally  definable  as  a  "riot," 
which  the  force  of  the  United  States  could  not  be  lawfully  used  in 
suppressing. 

General  Butler  said  to  the  attorney-general : — "  You  say  that  the 
government  can  not  use  its  army  and  navy  to  coerce  South  Carolina 
in  South  Carolina.  Very  well.  I  do  not  agree  with  you ;  but  let 
the  proposition  be  granted.  Now,  secession  is  either  a  right,  or  it 
is  treason.  If  it  is  a  right,  the  sooner  we  know  it  the  better. 
If  it  is  treason,  then  the  presenting  of  the  ordinance  of  seces- 
sion is  an  overt  act  of  treason.  These  men  are  coming  to  the 
White  House  to  present  the  ordinance  to  the  president.  Admit 
them.  Let  them  present  the  ordinance.  Let  the  president  say  to 
them  : — *  Gentlemen,  you  go  hence  in  the  custody  of  a  marshal  of 
the  United  States,  as  prisoners  of  state,  charged  with  treason 
against  your  country.'  Summon  a  grand  jury,  here  in  Washing- 
ton. Indict  the  commissioners.  If  any  of  your  officers  are  back- 
ward in  acting,  you  have  the  appointing  power ;  replace  them  with 
men  who  feel  as  men  should,  at  a  time  like  this.  Try  the  commis- 
sioners before  the  Supreme  Court,  with  all  the  imposing  forms  and 
stately  ceremonial  which  marked  the  trial  of  Aaron  Burr.  I  have 
some  reputation  at  home  as  a  criminal  lawyer,  and  will  stay  here 
and  help  the  district  attorney  through  the  trial  without  fee  or  re- 
ward. If  they  are  convicted,  execute  the  sentence.  If  they  are 
acquitted,  you  will  have  done  something  toward  leaving  a  clear 
path  for  the  incoming  administration.  Time  will  have  been  gained ; 
but  the  great  advantage  will  be,  that  both  sides  will  pause  to  watch 
this  high  and  dignified  proceeding  ;  the  passions  of  men  will  cool ; 
the  great  points  at  issue  will  become  clear  to  all  parties ;  the  mind 
of  the  country  will  be  active  while  passion  and  prejudice  are 
allayed.  Meanwhile,  if  you  can  not  use  your  army  and  navy  in 
Charleston  harbor,  you  can  certainly  employ  them  in  keeping  order 
here.', 

This  was  General  Butler's  contribution  to  the  grand  sum  total  of 


04  MASSACHUSETTS    READY. 

advice  with  which  the  administration  was  favored.  Mr.  Black 
seemed  inclined  to  recommend  the  measure.  Mr.  Buchanan  was  of 
opinion,  that  it  would  cause  a  fearful  agitation,  and  probably  in- 
flame the  South  to  the  point  of  beginning  hostilities  forthwith.  Be- 
sides, these  men  claimed  to  be  ambassadors  ;  and  though  we  could 
not  admit  the  claim,  still  they  had  voluntarily  placed  themselves  in 
our  power,  and  seemed  to  have  a  kind  of  right  to  be,  at  least,  warn- 
ed away,  before  we  could  honorably  treat  them  as  criminals  or  ene- 
mies. In  vain  General  Butler  urg«>d  that  his  object  was  simply  to 
get  their  position  denned  by  a  competent  tribunal;  to  ascertain 
whether  they  were,  in  reality,  ambassadors  or  traitors.  His  scheme 
was  that  of  a  bold  and  steadfast  patriot,  prepared  to  go  all  lengths 
for  his  country.     It  could  not  but  be  rejected  by  Mr.  Buchanan. 

General  Butler  frankly  told  the  commissioners  the  advice  he  had 
given. 

"  Why,  you  would'nt  hang  us,  would  you  ?"  said  Mr.  On*. 

"  Ob,  no,"  replied  the  General ;  "  not  unless  you  were  found 
guilty." 

Then  came  the  electric  news  of  Major  Anderson's  "  change  of 
base"  from  Fort  Moultrie  to  Fort  Sumter;  one  of  those  trivial 
events  which  generally  occur  at  times  like  those  to  decide  the  ques- 
tion of  peace  or  war.  The  future  historian  will  probably  tell  us, 
that  there  was  never  a  moment  after  that  event  when  a  peaceful 
solution  of  the  controversy  was  possible.  He  will  probably  show 
that  it  was  the  skillful  use  of  that  incident,  at  a  critical  moment, 
which  enabled  the  secessionists  of  Georgia,  frustrated  till  then,  to 
commit  that  great  state  to  the  support  of  South  Carolina;  and 
Georgia  is  the  empire  state  of  the  cotton  South,  whose  defection  in- 
volved that  of  all  the  cotton  states,  as  if  by  a  law  of  nature. 

The  president  of  the  United  States  had  allowed  himself  to  prom- 
ise the  South  Carolina  commissioners  that  no  military  movement 
should  occur  in  Charleston  harbor  during  the  negotiation  at  Wash- 
ington. They  promptly  demanded  the  return  of  Major  Anderson 
to  Fort  Moultrie. .  Floyd  supported  their  demand,  Mr.  Buchanan 
consented.  Then  the  commissioners,  finding  the  president  so  pliant, 
demanded  the  total  withdrawal  of  the  troops  from  South  Carolina, 
and  Floyd  supported  them  in  that  modest  demand  also.  While 
the  president  stood  hesitating  upon  the  brink  of  this  new  infamy, 
the  enormous  frauds  in  Floyd's  department  came  to  light,  and  his 


MASSACHUSETTS    READY.  65 

influence  was  at  an  end.  The  question  of  withdrawal  being  pro- 
posed to  the  cabinet,  it  was  negatived,  and  the  virtuous  Floyd  re- 
lieved his  colleagues  by  resigning.  Mr.  Holt  succeeded  him  ;  the 
government  stiffened ;  the  commissioners  went  home  ;  and  General 
Butler,  certain  now  that  war  was  impending,  prepared  to  depart. 

He  had  one  last,  long  interview  with  the  southern  leaders,  at 
which  the  whole  subject  was  gone  over.  For  three  hours  he  rea- 
soned with  them,  demonstrating  the  folly  of  their  course,  and  warn- 
ing them  of  final  and  disastrous  failure.  The  conversation  was 
friendly,  though  warm  and  earnest  on  both  sides.  Again  he  was 
invited  to  join  them,  and  was  offered  a  share  in  their  enterprise,  and 
a  place  in  that  "  sound  and  homogeneous  government"  which  they 
meant  to  establish.  He  left  them  no  room  to  doubt  that  he 
took  sides  with  his  country,  and  that  all  he  had,  and  all  he  was, 
should  be  freely  risked  in  that  country's  cause.  Late  at  night  they 
separated  to  know  one  another  no  more  except  as  mortal  foes. 

The  next  morning,  General  Butler  went  to  Senator  Wilson,  of 
Massachusetts,  an  old  acquaintance,  though  long  a  political  oppo- 
nent, and  told  him  that  the  southern  leaders  meant  war,  and  urged 
him  to  join  in  advising  the  governor  of  their  state  to  prepare  the 
militia  of  Massachusetts  for  taking  the  field. 

At  that  time,  and  for  some  time  longer,  the  southern  men  were 
divided  among  themselves  respecting  the  best  mode  of  beginning 
hostilities.  The  bolder  spirits  were  for  seizing  Washington,  pre- 
venting the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  placing  Breckinridge, 
if  he  would  consent,  or  some  other  popular  man  if  he  would  not,  in 
the  presidential  mansion,who  should  issue  a  proclamation  to  the 
whole  country,  and  endeavor  to  rally  to  his  support  a  sufficient 
number  of  northern  democrats  to  distract  and  paralyze  the  loyal 
states.  That  more  prudent  counsels  prevailed  was  not  from  any 
sense  of  the  turpitude  of  such  treason,  but  from  a  conviction  that  if 
anything  could  rouse  the  North  to  armed  resistance,  it  would  be 
the  seizure  of  the  capital.  Nothing  short  of  that,  thought  the  se- 
cessionists, would  induce  a  money-making,  pusillanimous  people  to 
leave  their  shops  and  their  counting-houses,  to  save  their  country 
from  being  broken  to  pieces  and  brought  to  naught.  The  dream 
of  these  traitors  was  to  destroy  their  country  without  fighting ;  and 
so  the  scheme  of  a  coup  cVetat  was  discarded.  But  General  Butler 
left  Washington  believing  that  the  bolder  course  was  the  one  which 


00  MASSACHUSETTS   READY. 

would  be  adopted.  He  believed  this  the  more  readily,  because  it 
was  the  course  which  he  would  have  advised,  had  he,  too,  been  a 
traitor.  One  thing,  however,  he  considered  absolutely  certain: 
there  was  going  to  be  a  war  between  Loyalty  and  Treason ;  between 
the  Slave  Power  and  the  Power  which  had  so  long  protected  and 
fostered  it- 
He  found  the  North  anxious,  but  still  incredulous.  He  went  to 
Governor  Andrew,  and  gave  him  a  full  relation  of  what  he  had 
heard  and  seen  at  Washington,  and  advised  him  to  get  the  militia 
of  the  state  in  readiness  to  move  at  a  day's  notice.  He  suggested 
that  all  the  men  should  be  quietly  withdrawn  from  the  militia  force 
who  were  either  unable  or  unwilling  to  leave  the  state  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  capital,  and  their  places  supplied  with  men  who  could 
and  would.  The  governor,  though  he  could  scarcely  yet  believe 
that  war  was  impending,  adopted  the  suggestion.  About  one-half 
the  men  resigned  their  places  in  the  militia;  the  vacancies  were 
quickly  filled;  and  many  of  the  companies,  during  the  winter  months, 
drilled  every  evening  in  the  week,  except  Sundays.  General  Butler 
further  advised  that  two  thousand  overcoats  be  made,  as  the  men 
were  already  provided  with  nearly  every  requisite  for  marching,  ex- 
cept those  indispensable  garments,  which  could  not  be  extemporized. 
To  this  suggestion  there  was  sturdy  opposition,  since  it  involved 
the  expenditure  of  twenty  thousand  dollars,  and  that  for  an  exigency 
which  Massachusetts  did  not  believe  was  likely  to  occur.  One  gen- 
tleman, high  in  office,  said  that  General  Butler  made  the  proposal 
in  the  interest  of  the  moths  of  Boston,  which  alone  would  get  any 
good  of  the  overcoats.  Others  insinuated  that  he  only  wanted  a 
good  contract  for  the  Middlesex  "Woolen  Mills,  in  which  he  was  a 
large  shareholder.  The  worthy  and  patriotic  governor,  however, 
strongly  recommended  the  measure,  and  the  overcoats  were  begun. 
The  last  stitches  in  the  last  hundred  of  them  were  performed  while 
the  men  stood  drawn  up  on  the  common  waiting  to  strap  them  to 
their  knapsacks  before  getting  into  the  cars  for  Washington. 

Having  thus  assisted  in  preparing  Massachusetts  to  march,  Gene- 
ral Butler  resumed  his  practice  at  the  bar,  vibrating  between  Boston 
and  Lowell  as  of  old,  not  without  much  inward  chafing  at  the  hu- 
miliating spectacle  which  the  country  presented  during  those  dreary, 
shameful  months.  One  incident  cheered  the  gloom.  One  word  was 
uttered  at  Washington  which  spoke  the  heart  of  the  country.     One 


MASSACHUSETTS   READY.  67 

man  in  the  cabinet  felt  as  patriots  feel  when  the  flag  of  thair  coun- 
try is  threatened  with  dishonor.  One  order  was  given  which  did 
not  disgrace  the  government  from  which  it  issued.     "  If  any  one 

ATTEMPTS  TO  HAUL   DOWN   THE    AMERICAN  FLAG   SHOOT  HIM  ON  THE 

spot!"  "When  I  read  it,"  wrote  General  Butler  to  General  Dix 
long  after,  "my  heart  bounded  with  joy.  It  was  the  first  bold 
stroke  in  favor  of  the  Union  under  the  past  administration."  He 
had  the  pleasure  of  sending  to  General  Dix,  from  New  Orleans, 
the  identical  flag  which  was  the  object  of  the  order,  and  the  con- 
federate flag  which  was  hoisted  in  its  place;  as  well  as  of  recom- 
mending for  promotion  the  sailor,  David  Ritchie,  who  contrived  to 
snatch  both  flags  from  the  cutter  when  traitors  abandoned  and  burnt 
her  as  Captain  Farragut's  fleet  drew  near. 

The  fifteenth  of  April  arrived.  Fort  Sumter  had  fallen.  The 
president's  proclamation  calling  for  troops  was  issued.  In  the  morn- 
ing came  a  telegram  to  Governor  Andrew  from  Senator  Wilson, 
asking  that  twenty  companies  of  Massachusetts  militia  be  instantly 
dispatched  to  defend  the  seat  of  government.  A  few  hours  after, 
the  formal  requisition  arrived  from  the  secretary  of  war  calling  for 
two  full  regiments.  At  quarter  before  five  that  afternoon,  General 
Butler  was  in  court  at  Boston  trying  a  cause.  To  him  came  Colonel 
Edward  F.  Jones,  of  the  Sixth  regiment,  bearing  an  order  from 
Governor  Andrew,  directing  him  to  muster  his  command  forthwith 
in  Boston  common,  in  readiness  to  proceed  to  Washington.  This 
regiment  was  one  of  General  Butler's  brigade,  its  headquarters 
being  Lowell,  twenty-five  miles  distant,  and  the  companies  scattered 
over  forty  miles  of  country.  The  general  endorsed  the  order,  and 
at  five  Colonel  Jones  was  on  the  Lowell  train.  There  was  a  good 
deal  of  swift  riding  done  that  night  in  the  region  round  about 
Lowell;  and  at  eleven  o'clock  on  the  day  following,  there  was 
Colonel  Jones  with  his  regiment  on  Boston  common.  Not  less 
prompt  were  the  Third  and  Eighth  regiments,  for  they  began  to 
arrive  in  Boston  as  early  as  nine,  each  company  lvelcomed  at  the 
dep&t  by  applauding  thousands.  The  Sixth  regiment,  it  was  deter- 
mined, should  go  first,  and  the  governor  deemed  it  best  to  strengthen 
it  with  two  additional  companies.  "It  was  nine  o'clock,  on  the 
evening  of  the  16th,"  reports  Adjutant-General  Schouler,  "before 
your  excellency  decided  to  attach  the  commands  of  Captains  Samp- 
Bon  and  Dike  to  the  Sixth  regiment.     A  messenger  was  dispatched 


68  MASSACHUSETTS    READY. 

to  Stoneham,  with  orders  for  Captain  Dike.  He  reported  to  me  at 
eight  o'clock  the  next  morning,  that  he  found  Captain  Dike  at  his 
house  in  Stoneham,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  placed  your 
excellency's  orders  in  his  hands ;  that  he  read  them,  and  said :  *  Tell 
the  adjutant-general  that  I  shall  be  at  the  state  house  with  my  full 
company  by  eleven  o'clock  to-day.'  True  to  his  word,  he  reported 
at  the  time,  and  that  afternoon,  attached  to  the  Sixth,  the  company 
left  for  Washington.  Two  days  afterward,  on  the  19th  of  April, 
during  that  gallant  march  through  Baltimore,  which  is  now  a  matter 
of  history,  Captain  Dike  was  shot  down  while  leading  his  company 
through  the  mob.  Several  of  his  command  were  killed  and 
wounded,  and  he  received  a  wound  in  the  leg,  which  will  render 
him  a  cripple  for  life." 

The  general,  too,  was  going.  During  the  night  following  the 
15th  of  April,  he  had  been  at  work  with  Colonel  Jones  getting  the 
Sixth  together.  On  the  morning  of  the  16th,  he  was  in  the  cars,  as 
usual,  going  to  Boston,  and  with  him  rode  Mr.  James  G.  Carney, 
of  Lowell,  president  of  the  Bank  of  Redemption,  in  Boston. 

"  The  governor  will  want  money,"  said  the  general.  "  Can  not 
the  Bank  of  Redemption  offer  a  temporary  loan  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars  to  help  off  the  troops  ?" 

It  can,  and  shall,  was  the  reply,  in  substance,  of  the  president ; 
and  in  the  course  of  the  morning,  a  note  offering  the  loan  was  in 
the  governor's  hands. 

General  Butler  went  not  to  court  that  morning.  As  yet,  no 
brigadier  had  been  ordered  into  service,  but  there  was  one  brigadier 
who  was  on  fire  to  serve ;  one  who,  from  the  first  summons,  had 
been  resolved  to  go,  and  to  stay  to  the  end  of  the  fight,  whether  he 
went  as  private  or  as  lieutenant-general.  Farewell  the  learned  plea, 
and  the  big  fees  that  swell  the  lawyers'  bank  account !  Farewell 
the  spirit-stirring  speech,  the  solemn  bench,  and  all  the  pomp  and 
circumstance  of  glorious  law!  General  Butler's  occupation  was 
about  to  be  changed.  He  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Wilson,  asking  him 
to  remind  Mr.  Cameron,  that  a  brigade  required  a  brigadier ;  and 
back  from  Washington  came  an  order  calling  for  a  brigade  of  four 
full  regiments,  to  be  commanded  by  a  brigadier-general. 

That  point  gained,  the  next  was  to  induce  Governor  Andrew  io 
select  the  particular  brigadier  whom  General  Butler  had  in  his 
mind  when   he  dispatched  the  telegram  to  Mr.  Wilson.     There 


MASSACHUSETTS    READY.  69 

were  two  whose  commissions  were  of  older  date  than  his  own ; 
General  Adams  and  General  Pierce ;  the  former  sick,  the  latter  de- 
siring the  appointment.  General  Pierce  had  the  advantage  of  being 
a  political  ally  of  the  governor.  On  the  other  hand,  General  But- 
ler had  suggested  the  measures  which  enabled  the  troops  to  take 
the  field,  had  got  the  loan  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  had  procured 
the  order  for  a  brigadier.  He  was,  moreover,  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
a  gentleman  not  unknown  in  Boston,  though  long  veiled  from  the 
general  view  by  a  set  of  obstinately  held  unpopular  political  opir- 
ions.  These  considerations,  aided,  perhaps,  by  a  little  wire-pulling, 
prevailed;  and  in  the  morning  of  the  17th,  at  ten  o'clock,  he  re- 
ceived the  order  to  take  command  of  the  troops. 

All  that  day  he  worked  as  few  men  can  work.  There  were  a 
thousand  things  to  do ;  but  there  were  a  thousand  willing  hearts 
and  hands  to  help.  The  Sixth  regiment  was  off  in  the  afternoon, 
addressed  before  it  moved  by  Governor  Andrew  and  General  But- 
ler. Two  regiments  were  embarked  on  board  a  steamer  for  Fort- 
ress Monroe,  then  defended  by  two  companies  of  regular  artillery — 
a  tempting  prize  for  the  rebels.  Late  at  night,  the  General  went 
home  to  bid  farewell  to  his  family,  and  prepare  for  his  final  de- 
parture. The  next  morning,  back  again  to  Boston,  accompanied 
by  his  brother,  Colonel  Andrew  Jackson  Butler,  who  chanced  to 
be  on  a  visit  to  his  ancient  home,  after  eleven  years'  residence  in 
California;  where,  with  Broderick  and  Hooker,  he  had  already 
done  battle  against  the  slave  power,  the  lamented  Broderick  having 
died  in  his  arms.  He  served  now  as  a  volunteer  aid  to  the  General, 
and  rendered  good  service  on  the  eventful  march.  At  Boston, 
General  Butler  stopped  at  his  accustomed  barber-shop.  While  he 
was  under  the  artist's  hands,  a  soldier  of  the  departed  Sixth  regi- 
ment came  in  sorrowful,  begging  to  be  excused  from  duty ;  saying 
that  he  had  left  his  wife  and  three  children  crying. 

"  I  am  not  the  man  for  you  to  come  to,  sir,"  said  the  General, 
"  for  I  have  just  done  the  same,"  and  straightway  sent  for  a  police- 
man to  arrest  him  as  a  deserter. 

A  hurried  visit  to  the  steamer  bound  for  Fortress  Monroe.  All 
was  in  readiness  there.  Then  to  the  Eighth  regiment,  in  the  Com- 
mon, which  he  was  to  conduct  to  Washington,  by  way  of  Balti- 
more ;  no  intimation  of  the  impending  catastrophe  to  the  Sixth 
having  yet  been  received.    The  Eighth  marched  to  the  cars,  and 


70  MASSACHUSETTS    EEADY. 

rolled  away  from  the  depot,  followed  by  the  benedictions  of  assem- 
bled Boston  ;  saluted  at  every  station  on  the  way  by  excited  mul- 
titudes. At  Springfield,  where  there  was  a  brief  delay  to  procure 
from  the  armory  the  means  of  repairing  muskets,  the  regiment  was 
joined  by  a  valuable  company,  under  Captain  Henry  S.  Briggs. 
Thence,  to  New  York.  The  Broadway  march  of  the  regiment ;  their 
breakfast  at  the  Metropolitan  and  Astor ;  their  push  through  the 
crowd  to  Jersey  City ;  the  tumultuous  welcome  in  New  Jersey ; 
the  continuous  roar  of  cheers  across  the  state ;  the  arrival  at  Phila- 
delphia in  the  afternoon  of  the  memorable  nineteenth  of  April,  who 
can  have  forgotten  ? 

Fearful  news  met  the  general  and  the  regiment  at  the  depot. 
The  Sixth  regiment,  in  its  march  through  Baltimore  that  afternoon, 
had  been  attacked  by  the  mob,  and  there  had  been  a  conflict,  in 
which  men  on  both  sides  had  fallen  !  So  much  was  fact ;  but,  as 
inevitably  happens  at  such  a  time,  the  news  came  with  appalling 
exaggerations,  which  could  not  be  corrected ;  for  soon  the  tele- 
graph ceased  working,  the  last  report  being  that  the  bridges  at  the 
Maryland  end  of  the  railroad  were  burning,  and  that  Washington, 
threatened  with  a  hostile  army,  was  isolated  and  defenseless. 
Never,  since  the  days  when  "  General  Benjamin  Franklin"  led  a 
little  army  of  Philadelphians  against  the  Indians  after  Braddock's 
defeat,  the  Indians  ravaging  and  scalping  within  sixty  miles  of  the 
city,  and  expected  soon  to  appear  on  the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill,  had 
Philadelphia  been  so  deeply  moved  with  mingled  anger  and  apprehen- 
sion. The  first  blood  shed  in  a  war  sends  a  thrill  of  rage  and  horroi 
through  all  hearts,  and  this  blood  shed  in  Baltimore  streets,  was 
that  of  the  countrymen,  the  neighbors,  the  relatives  of  these  newly 
arrived  troops.  A  thousand  wild  rumors  filled  the  air,  and  nothing 
was  too  terrible  to  be  believed.  He  was  the  great  man  of  the 
group,  who  had  the  most  incredible  story  to  tell ;  and  each  listener 
went  his  way  to  relate  the  tale  with  additions  derived  from  his  own 
frenzied  imagination. 

General  Butler's  orders  directed  him  to  march  to  Washington  by 
way  of  Baltimore.  That  having  become  impossible,  the  day  being 
far  spent,  his  men  fatigued,  and  the  New  York  Seventh  coming,  he 
marched  his  regiment  to  the  vacant  Girard  House  for  a  night's  rest, 
where  hospitable,  generous  Philadelphia  gave  them  bountiful  en- 
tertainment,    The  regiment  slept  the  sleep  that  tired  soldiers  know. 


MASSACHUSETTS    EEADY.  71 

For  General  Butler  there  was  neither  sleep  nor  rest  that  night, 
nor  for  his  fraternal  aid-de-camp.  There  was  telegraphing  to  the 
governor  of  Massachusetts ;  there  were  consultations  with  Commo- 
dore Dupont,  commandant  of  the  Navy  Yard;  there  were  inter- 
views with  Mr.  Felton,  president  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore 
railroad,  a  son  of  Massachusetts,  full  of  patriotic  zeal,  and  prompt 
with  needful  advice  and  help ;  there  was  poring  over  maps  and 
gazetteers.  Meanwhile,  Colonel  A.  J.  Butler  was  out  in  the  streets, 
buying  pickaxes,  shovels,  tinware,  provisions,  and  all  that  was 
necessary  to  enable  the  troops  to  take  the  field,  to  subsist  on  army 
rations,  to  repair  bridges  and  railroads,  and  to  throw  up  breast- 
works. All  Maryland  was  supposed  to  be  in  arms ;  but  the  gen- 
eral was  going  through  Maryland. 

Before  the  evening  was  far  advanced,  he  had  determined  upon  a 
plan  of  operations,  and  summoned  his  officers  to  make  them  ac- 
quainted with  it — not  to  shun  responsibility  by  asking  their  opin- 
ion, nor  to  waste  precious  time  in  discussion.  They  found  upon 
his  table  thirteen  revolvers.  He  explained  his  design,  pointed  out 
its  probable  and  its  possible  dangers,  and  said  that,  as  some  might 
censure  it  as  rash  and  reckless,  he  was  resolved  to  take  the  sole 
responsibility  himself.  Taking  up  one  of  the  revolvers,  he  invited 
every  officer  who  was  willing  to  accompany  him  to  signify  it  by 
accepting  a  pistol.  The  pistols  were  all  instantly  appropriated. 
The  officers  departed,  and  the  general  then,  in  great  haste,  and 
amid  ceaseless  interruptions,  sketched  a  memorandum  of  his  plan, 
to  be  sent  to  the  governor  of  Massachusetts  after  his  departure, 
that  his  friends  might  know,  if  he  should  be  swallowed  up  in  the 
maelstrom  of  secession,  what  he  had  intended  to  do.  Many  sen- 
tences of  this  paper  betray  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were 
written. 

"My  proposition  is  to  join  with  Colonel  Lefierts  of  the  Seventh 
regiment  of  New  York.  I  propose  to  take  the  fifteen  hundred 
troops  to  Annapolis,  arriving  there  to-morrow  about  four  o'clock, 
and  occupy  the  capital  of  Maryland,  and  thus  call  the  state  to  ac- 
count for  the  death  of  Massachusetts  men,  my  friends  and  neigh- 
bors. If  Colonel  Lefferts  thinks  it  more  in  accordance  with  the 
tenor  of  his  instructions  to  wait  rather  than  go  through  Baltimore,  I 
still  propose  to  march  with  this  regiment.  I  propose  to  occupy  the 
town,  and  hold  it  open  as  a  means  of  communication.     I  have  then 


72  MASSACHUSETTS    KEADY. 

but  to  advance  by  a  forced  march  of  thirty  miles  to  reach  the  capi- 
tal, in  accordance  with  the  orders  I  at  first  received,  but  which  sub- 
sequent events  in  my  judgment  vary  in  their  execution,  believing 
from  the  telegraphs  that  there  will  be  others  in  great  numbers  to 
aid  me.  Being  accompanied  by  officers  of  more  experience,  who 
will  be  able  to  direct  the  affair,  I  think  it  will  be  accomplished. 
We  have  no  light  batteries ;  I  have  therefore  telegraphed  to  Gover- 
nor Andrew  to  have  the  Boston  Light  Battery  put  on  shipboard  at 
once,  to-night,  to  help  me  in  marching  on  Washington.  In  pursu- 
ance of  this  plan,  I  have  detailed  Captains  Devereux  and  Briggs, 
with  their  commands,  to  hold  the  boat  at  Havre  de  Grace. 

"  Eleven,  a.  m.     Colonel  Lefferts  has  refused  to  march  with  me. 
I  go  alone  at  three  o'clock,  p.  m.,  to  execute  this  imperfectly  writ-* 
ten  plan.    If  I  succeed,  success  will  justify  me.    If  I  fail,  purity  of 
intention  will  excuse  want  of  judgment  or  rashness." 

The  plan  was  a  little  changed  in  the  morning,  when  the  rumor 
prevailed  that  the  ferry-boat  at  Havre  de  Grace  had  been  seized 
and  barricaded  by  a  large  force  of  rebels.  The  two  companies  were 
not  sent  forward.  It  was  determined  that  the  regiment  should  go 
in  a  body,  seize  the  boat  and  use  it  for  transporting  the  troops 
to  Annapolis. 

"  I  may  have  to  sink  or  burn  your  boat,"  said  the  general  to  Mr. 
Felton. 

"  Do  so,"  replied  the  president,  and  immediately  wrote  an  order 
authorizing  its  destruction,  if  necessary. 

It  had  been  the  design  of  General  Butler,  as  we  have  seen,  to 
leave  Philadelphia  in  the  morning  train  ;  but  he  delayed  his  depart- 
ure in  the  hope  that  Colonel  Lefferts  might  be  induced  to  share  in 
the  expedition.  The  Seventh  had  arrived  at  sunrise,  and  General 
Butler  made  known  his  plan  to  Colonel  Lefferts,  and  invited  his 
co-operation.  That  officer,  suddenly  intrusted  with  the  lives  (but 
the  honor  also)  of  nearly  a  thousand  of  the  flower  of  the  young- 
men  of  New  York,  was  overburdened  with  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility, and  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  consult  his  officers.  The  con- 
sultation was  long,  and,  I  believe,  not  harmonious,  and  the  result 
was,  that  the  Seventh  embarked  in  the  afternoon  in  a  steamboat 
at  Philadelphia,  with  the  design  of  going  to  Washington  by  the 
Potomac  river,  leaving  to  the  men  of  Massachusetts  the  honor  and 
the  danger  of  opening  a  path  through  Maryland.     It  is  impossible 


MASSACHUSETTS    BEADY.  73 

for  a  New  Yorker,  looking  at  it  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  not 
to  regret,  and  keenly  regret,  the  refusal  of  officers  of  the  favorite 
New  York  regiment  to  join  General  Butler  in  his  bold  and  wise 
movement.  But  they  had  not  the  light  of  subsequent  events  to 
aid  them  in  their  deliberations,  and  they,  doubtless,  thought  that 
their  first  duty  was  to  hasten  to  the  protection  of  Washington,  and 
avoid  the  risk  of  detention  by  the  way.  It  happened  on  this  occa- 
sion, as  in  so  many  others,  that  the  bold  course  was  also  the  pru- 
dent and  successful  one.  The  Seventh  was  obliged,  after  all,  to 
take  General  Butler's  road  to  Washington. 

At  eleven  in  the  morning  of  the  twentieth  of  April,  the  Eighth 
Massachusetts  regiment  moved  slowly  away  from  the  depot  in  Broad 
street  toward  Havre  de  Grace,  where  the  Susquehannah  river  emp- 
ties into  the  Chesapeake  Bay — forty  miles  from  Philadelphia, 
sixty-four  from  Annapolis.  General  Butler  went  through  each  car 
explaining  the  plan  of  attack,  and  giving  the  requisite  orders.  His 
design  was  to  halt  the  train  one  mile  from  Havre  de  Grace, 
advance  his  two  best  drilled  companies  as  skirmishers,  follow 
quickly  with  the  regiment,  rush  upon  the  barricades  and  carry 
them  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  pour  headlong  into  the  ferry- 
boat, drive  out  the  rebels,  get  up  steam  and  start  for  Annapolis. 

Having  assigned  to  each  company  its  place  in  the  line,  and  giv- 
en all  due  explanation  to  each  captain,  the  general  took  a  seat  and 
instantly  fell  asleep. 

And  now,  the  bustle  being  over,  upon  all  those  worthy  men  fell 
that  seriousness,  that  solemnity,  which  comes  to  those  who  value 
their  lives,  and  whose  lives  are  valuable  to  others  far  away,  but  who 
are  about,  for  the  first  time,  to  incur  mortal  peril  for  a  cause  which 
they  feel  to  be  greater  and  dearer  than  life.  Goethe  tells  us  that 
valor  can  neither  be  learned  nor  forgotten.  I  do  not  believe  it. 
Certainly,  the  first  peril  does,  in  some  degree,  appall  the  firmest 
heart,  especially  when  that  peril  is  quietly  approached  on  the  easy 
seat  of  a  railway  car  during  a  two  hours'  ride.  Scarcely  a  word 
was  spoken.  Many  of  the  men  sat  erect,  grasping  their  muskets 
firmly,  and  looking  anxiously  out  of  the  windows. 

One  man  blenched,  and  one  only.  The  general  was  startled  from 
his  sleep  by  the  cry  of,  "  Man  overboard !"  The  train  was  stopped. 
A  soldier  was  seen  running  across  the  fields  as  though  pursued  by  a 
mad  dog.     Mad  Panic  had  seized  him,  and  he  had  jumped  from  a 


74  MASSACHUSETTS   BEADY. 

car,  incurring  ten  times  the  danger  from  which  he  strove  to  escape. 
The  general  started  a  group  of  country  people  in  pursuit,  offering 
them  the  lawful  thirty  dollars  if  they  brought  the  deserter  to  Havre 
de  Grace  in  time.  The  train  moved  again ;  the  incident  broke  the 
sp-41,  and  the  cars  were  filled  with  laughter.  The  man  was  brought 
in.  His  sergeant's  stripe. was  torn  from  his  arm,  and  he  was  glad 
to  compound  his  punishment  by  serving  the  regiment  in  the  capacity 
of  a  menial. 

At  the  appointed  place,  the  train  was  stopped,  the  regiment 
was  formed,  and  marched  toward  the  ferry-boat,  skirmishers  in 
advance.  It  mustered  thirteen  officers  and  seven  hundred  and 
eleven  men.* 

*  EIGHTH  EEGIMENT  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  INFANTRY. 

FIELD    AND    STAFF. 

Colonel Timothy  Munroe,  Lynn. 

Aftei'wards , Edward  W.  Hinks,  Lynn. 

Lieutenant- Colonel Andrew  Elwell,  Gloucester. 

Major Ben.  Perley  Poore,  Newburyport. 

Adjutant George  Creasey,  Newburyport. 

Quartermaster E.  Alfred  Ingalls,  Lynn. 

Paymaster ..Roland  G.  Usher,  Lynn. 

Surgeon Bowman  B.  Breed,  Lynn. 

Assistant-Surgeon Warren  Tapley,  Lynn. 

Chaplain Gilbert  Haven,  Maiden. 

Sergeant-Major John  Goodwin,  jr.,  Marblehead. 

Quartermaster-Sergeant.  ..Horace  E.  Monroe,  Lynn. 

Drum-Major Samuel  Eoads,  Marblehead. 

Total,  Field  and  Staff 18 


COMPANIES    AND    COMMANDERS. 

A,— Newburyport Captain  Albert  W.  Bartlett,  Newburyport 80 

B,— Marblehead Captain  Richard  Philips,  Marblehead 58 

C<— Marblehead Captain  Knott  V.  Martin,  Marblehead 63 

J),— Lynn Captain  George  T.  Newhall,  Lynn 69 

E, — Beverly —  , Captain  Francis  E.  Porter,  Beverly 72 

F, — Lynn Captain  James  Hudson,  jr.,  Lynn 89 

<?, — Gloucester Captain  Addison  Center,  Gloucester 66 

II, — Marblehead Captain  Francis  Boardman,  Marblehead 52 

J] — Salem Captain  Arthur  F.  Devereux,  Salem 72 

X— Pitts  field  i  Captain  Henry  S.  Briggs,  Pi  ttsfield j  ?7 

J       "  1  Captain  Henry  H.  Richardson,  Pittsfield. ) 

Total,  Officers  and  Men , 711 

—Report  of  Adjutant- General  Schouler,  for  1861. 


ANNAPOLIS.  75 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ANNAPOLIS. 

It  was  a  false  alarm.  There  was  not  an  armed  enemy  at  Havre 
de  Grace.  The  ferry-boat  Maryland  lay  at  her  moorings  in  the 
peaceful  possession  of  her  crew ;  and  nothing  remained  but  to  get 
up  steam,  put  on  board  a  supply  of  coal,  water  and  provisions, 
embark  the  troops,  and  start  for  Annapolis. 

Whether  the  captain  and  crew  were  loyal  or  treasonable — whether 
they  were  likely  to  steer  the  boat  to  Annapolis  or  to  Baltimore,  or 
run  her  ashore  on  some  traitorous  coast,  were  questions  much  dis- 
cussed among  officers  and  men.  The  captain  professed  the  most 
ardent  loyalty,  and  General  Butler  was  more  inclined  to  trust  him 
than  some  of  his  officers  were.  There  were  men  on  board,  however, 
who  knew  the  way  to  Annapolis,  and  were  abundantly  capable  of 
navigating  any  craft  on  any  sea.  It  was  resolved,  therefore,  to 
permit  the  captain  to  command  the  steamer,  but  to  keep  a  sharp 
lookout  ahead,  and  an  unobserved  scrutiny  of  the  engine-room. 
Upon  the  first  indication  of  treachery,  captain  and  engineers  should 
find  themselves  in  an  open  boat  upon  the  Chesapeake,  or  stowed 
away  in  the  hold,  their  places  supplied  with  seafaring  Marbleheaders. 
Never  before,  I  presume,  had  such  a  variously  skilled  body  of  men 
gone  to  war  as  the  Massachusetts  Eighth.  It  was  not  merely  that 
all  trades  and  professions  had  their  representatives  among  them, 
but  some  of  the  companies  had  almost  a  majority  of  college-bred 
men.  Major  Winthrop  did  not  so  much  exaggerate  when  he  said, 
that  if  the  word  were  given,  "  Poets  to  the  front !"  or  "  Painters 
present  arms !"  or  "  Sculptors  charge  bayonets !"  a  baker's  dozen 
out  of  every  company  would  respond.  Navigating  a  steamboat 
was  the  simplest  of  all  tasks  to  many  of  them. 

At  six  in  the  evening"  they  were  off,  packed  as  close  as  negroes 
in  the  steerage  of  a  slave  ship.  Darkness  closed  in  upon  them,  and 
the  men  lay  down  to  sleep,  each  with  his  musket  in  his  hands.  The 
general,  in  walking  from  one  part  of  the  boat  to  another,  stumbled 
over  and  trod  upon  many  a  growling  sleeper.  He  was  too  anxious 
4 


70  ANNAPOLIS. 

upon  the  still  unsettled  point  of  the  captain's  fidelity  to  sleep;  so  he 
went  prowling  about  among  the  prostrate  men,  exchanging  notes 
with  those  who  had  an  eye  upon  the  compass,  and  with  those  who 
were  observing  the  movements  of  the  engineers.  There  were  mo- 
ments when  suspicion  was  strong  in  some  minds ;  but  captain  and 
engineers  did  their  duty,  and  at  midnight  the  boat  was  off  the 
ancient  city  of  Annapolis. 

They  had,  naturally  enough,  expected  to  come  upon  a  town 
wrapped  in  midnight  slumber.  There  was  no  telegraphic  or  other 
communication  with  the  North ;  how  could  Annapolis,  then,  know 
that  they  were  coming?  It  certainly  could  not;  yet  the  whole 
town  was  evidently  awake  and  astir.  Rockets  shot  up  into  the 
sky.  Swiftly  moving  lights  were  seen  on  shore,  and  all  the  houses 
in  sight  were  lighted  up.  The  buildings  of  the  Naval  Academy 
were  lighted.  There  was  every  appearance  of  a  town  in  extreme 
commotion.  It  had  been  General  Butler's  intention  to  land  quietly 
while  the  city  slept,  and  astonish  the  dozing  inhabitants  in  the 
morning  with  a  brilliantly  executed  reveille.  Noting  these  signs  of 
disturbance,  he  cast  anchor,  and  determined  to  delay  his  landing 
till  daylight. 

Colonel  Andrew  Jackson  Butler  volunteered  to  go  on  shore 
alone,  and  endeavor  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  commotion.  He 
was  almost  the  only  man  in  the  party  who  wore  plain  clothes. 
The  general  consenting,  a  boat  was  brought  round  to  the  gang- 
way, and  Colonel  Butler  stepped  into  it.  As  he  did  so,  he  handed 
his  revolver  to  a  friend,  saying,  that  he  had  no  intention  of  fighting 
a  town  full  of  people,  and  if  he  was  taken  prisoner,  he  preferred 
that  his  pistol  should  fight,  during  the  war,  on  the  Union  side.  The 
brother  in  command  assured  him,  that  if  any  harm  came  to  him  in 
Annapolis,  it  would  be  extremely  bad  for  Annapolis.  The  gallant 
colonel  settled  himself  to  his  work,  and  glided  away  into  the  dark- 


The  sound  of  oars  was  again  heard,  and  a  boat  was  descried  ap- 
proaching the  steamer.     A  voice  from  the  boat  said : 

"  What  steamer  is  that  ?" 

The  steamer  was  as  silent  as  though  it  were  filled  with  dead 
men. 

"  What  steamer  is  that  ?"  repeated  the  voice. 

No  answer.     The  boat  seemed  to  be  making  off. 


ANNAPOLIS.  *l*\ 

"  Come  on  board,"  thundered  General  Butler. 

No  reply  from  the  boat. 

"  Come  on  board,  or  I'll  fire  into  you,"  said  the  general. 

The  boat  approached,  and  came  alongside.  It  was  rowed  by 
four  men,  and  in  the  stern  sat  an  officer  in  the  uniform  of  a  lieuten- 
ant of  the  United  States  navy.  The  officer  stepped  on  board,  and 
was  conducted  by  General  Butler  to  his  cabin,  where,  the  door 
being  closed,  a  curious  colloquy  ensued. 

"  Who  are  you  ?"  asked  the  lieutenant. 

"  Who  are  you .?"  said  the  general. 

He  replied  that  he  was  Lieutenant  Matthews,  attached  to  the 
Naval  Academy,  and  was  sent  by  Captain  Blake,  commandant  of 
the  post,  and  chief  of  the  Naval  Academy,  who  directed  him  to  say 
that  they  must  not  land.  He  had,  also,  an  order  from  Governor 
Hicks  to  the  same  effect.  The  United  States  quartermaster,  too, 
had  requested  him  to  add  from  Lieutenant  General  Scott,  that  there 
were  no  means  of  transportation  at  Annapolis. 

General  Butler  was  still  uncommunicative.  Both  gentlemen 
were  in  a  distrustful  state  of  mind. 

The  truth  was  that  Captain  Blake  had  been,  for  forty-eight  hours, 
in  momentary  expectation  of  an  irruption  of "  plug  uglies"  from 
Baltimore,  either  by  sea  or  land.  He  was  surrounded  by  a  popula- 
tion stolidly  hostile  to  the  United  States.  The  school-ship  Consti- 
tution, which  lay  at  the  academy  wharf,  was  aground,  and  weakly 
manned.  He  had  her  guns  shotted,  and  was  prepared  to  fight  her 
to  the  last  man ;  but  she  was  an  alluring  prize  to  traitors,  and  he 
was  in  dread  of  an  overpowering  force.  "Large  parties  of  seces- 
sionists," as  the  officers  of  the  ship  afterward  testified,  "  were  round 
the  ship  every  day,  noting  her  assailable  points.  The  militia  of  the 
county  were  drilled  in  sight  of  the  ship  in  the  day  time ;  during  the 
night  signals  Were  exchanged  along  the  banks  and  across  the  river, 
but  the  character  of  the  preparation,  and  the  danger  to  the  town  in 
case  of  an  attack,  as  one  of  the  batteries  of  the  ship  was  pointed 
directly  upon  it,  deterred  them  from  carrying  out  their  plans.  Dur- 
ing this  time  the  Constitution  had  a  crew  of  about  twenty-five  men, 
and  seventy-six  of  the  youngest  class  of  midshipmen,  on  board. 
The  ship  drawing  more  water  than  there  was  on  the  bar,  the  seces- 
sionists thought  she  would  be  in  their  power  whenever  they  would 
be  in  sufficient  force  to  take  her."     In  these  circumstances,  Captain 


78  ANNAPOLIS. 

Blake,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  who  had  grown  gray  in  his  coun- 
try's service,  as  loyal  and  steadfast  a  heart  as  ever  beat,  was  tor- 
tured with  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  the  trust  which  his  country 
had  committed  to  him.  Upon  seeing  the  steamer,  he  had  conclud- 
ed that  here,  at  last,  were  the  Baltimore  ruffians,  come  to  seize  his 
ship,  and  lay  waste  the  academy.  Secessionists  in  the  town  were 
prepared  to  sympathize,  if  not  to  aid  in  the  fell  business.  All 
Annapolis,  for  one  reason  or  another,  was  in  an  agony  of  desire  to 
know  who  and  what  these  portentous  midnight  voyagers  were. 
Captain  Blake,  his  ship  all  ready  to  open  fire,  had  sent  the  lieuten- 
ant to  make  certain  that  the  new-comers  were  enemies,  before  begin- 
ning the  congenial  work  of  blowing  them  out  of  the  water. 

General  Butler  and  the  lieutenant  continued  for  some  time  to 
question  one  another,  without  either  of  them  arriving  at  a  satis- 
factory conclusion  as  to  the  loyalty  of  the  other.  The  general,  at 
length,  announced  his  name,  and  declared  his  intention  of  marching 
by  way  of  Annapolis  to  the  relief  of  Washington.  The  lieutenant 
informed  him  that  the  rails  were  torn  up,  the  cars  removed,  and 
the  people  unanimous  against  the  marching  of  any  more  troops 
over  the  soil  of  Maryland.  The  general  intimated  that  the  men  of 
his  command  could  dispense  with  rails,  cars,  and  the  consent  of  die 
people.  They  were  bound  to  the  city  of  Washington,  and  expected 
to  make  their  port.  Meanwhile,  he  would  send  an  officer  with  him 
on  shore,  to  confer  with  the  governor  of  the  state,  and  the  authori 
ties  of  the  city. 

Captain  P.  Haggerty,  aid-de-camp,  was  dispatched  upon  this 
errand.  He  was  conveyed  to  the  town,  where  he  was  soon  con- 
ducted to  the  presence  of  the  governor  and  the  mayor,  to  whom  he 
gave  the  requisite  explanations,  and  declared  General  Butler's  intention 
to  land.  Those  dignitaries  finding  it  necessary  to  confer  together, 
Captain  Haggerty  was  shown  into  an  adjoining  room,  where  he 
was  discovered  an  hour  or  two  later,  fast  asleep  on  a  lounge.  Lieu- 
tenant Matthews  was  charged  by  the  governor  with  two  short 
notes  to  General  Butler,  one  from  himself,  and  another  frtfm  the 
aforesaid  quartermaster.  The  document  signed  by  the  governor, 
read  as  follows : 

"I  would  most  earnestly  advise,  that  you  do  not  land  your 
men  at  Annapolis.  The  excitement  is  very  great,  and  I  think 
it  prudent  that  you   should  take  your  men  elsewhere.     I  have 


ANNAPOLIS.  79 

telegraphed  to  the  secretary  of  war  against  your  landing  your  men 
here." 

This  was  addressed  to  the  "  Commander  of  the  Volunteer  troops 
on  Board  the  Steamer."  The  quartermaster,  left  Captain  Morris  J. 
Miller,  wrote  thus : 

"Having  been  intrusted  by  General  Scott  with  the  arragnements 
for  transporting  your  regiments  hence  to  Washington,  and  it  being 
impracticable  to  procure  cars,  I  recommend,  that  the  troops  re- 
main on  board  the  steamer  until  further  orders  can  be  received  from 
General  Scott." 

This  appears  to  have  been  a  mere  freak  of  the  captain's  imagina- 
tion, since  no  troops  were  expected  at  Annapolis  by  General  Scott. 

Captain  Haggerty  returned  on  board  "the  steamer,"  and  the 
notes  were  delivered  to  the  general  commanding. 

What  had  befallen  Colonel  Butler,  meanwhile  ?  Upon  leaving 
the  steamer,  he  rowed  toward  the  most  prominent  object  in  view,  and 
soon  found  himself  alongside  of  what  proved  to  be  a  wharf  of  the 
Naval  Academy.  He  had  no  sooner  fastened  his  boat,  and  stepped 
ashore,  than  he  was  seized  by  a  sentinel,  who  asked  him  what  he 
wanted. 

"  I  want  to  see  the  commander  of  the  post." 

To  Captain  Blake  he  was,  accordingly,  taken.  Colonel  Butler  is 
a  tall,  fully  developed,  imposing  man,  devoid  of  the  slightest  resem- 
blance to  the  ideal  "  Plug  Ugly."  Captain  Blake,  venerable  with 
years  and  faithful  service  on  many  seas,  in  many  lands,  was  not  a 
person  likely  to  be  mistaken  for  a  rebel.  Yet  these  two  gentlemen 
eyed  one  another  with  intense  distrust.  The  navy  had  not  then 
been  sifted  of  all  its  traitors ;  and  upon  the  mind  of  Captain  Blake, 
the  apprehension  of  violent  men  from  Baltimore  had  been  working 
for  painful  days  and  nights.  He  received  the  stranger  with  reticent 
civility,  and  invited  him  to  be  seated.  Probing  questions  were 
asked  by  both,  eliciting  vague  replies,  or  none.  These  two  men  were 
Yankees,  and  each  was  resolved  that  the  other  should  declare  him- 
self first.  After  long  fencing  and  "beating  about  the  bush,"  Col- 
onel Butler  expressed  himself  thus : 

"  Captain  Blake,  we  may  as  well  end  this  now  as  at  any  other 
time.  They  are  Yankee  troops  on  board  that  boat,  and  if  I  don't 
get  back  pretty  soon,  they  will  open  fire  upon  you." 

The  worthy  Captain  drew  a  long  breath  of  relief.     Full  explana- 


SO  ANNAPOLIS. 

tions  on  both  sides  followed,  and  Captain  Blake  said  he  would  visit 
General  Butler  at  daybreak.  Colonel  Butler  returned  on  board  the 
Maryland. 

The  general  was  soon  ready  with  replies  to  the  notes  of  Governor 
Hicks  and  Captain  Miller. 

To  the  governor :  "  I  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  note  by 
the  hands  of  Lieutenant  Matthews  of  the  United  States  Naval 
School  at  Annapolis.  I  am  sorry  that  your  excellency  should 
advise  against  my  landing  here.  I  am  not  provisioned  for  a  long 
voyage.  Finding  the  ordinary  means  of  communication  cut  off  by 
the  burning  of  railroad  bridges  by  a  mob,  I  have  been  obliged  to 
make  this  detour,  and  hope  that  your  excellency  will  see,  from  the 
very  necessity  of  the  case,  that  there  is  no  cause  of  excitement  in 
the  mind  of  any  good  citizen  because  of  our  being  driven  here  by 
an  extraordinary  casualty.  I  should,  at  once,  obey,  however,  an 
order  from  the  secretary  of  war." 

To  Captain  Miller  :  "  I  am  grieved  to  hear  that  it  is  impractica- 
ble for  you  to  procure  cars  for  the  carriage  of  myself  and  command 
to  "Washington,  D.  C.  Cars  are  not  indispensable  to  our  progress. 
I  am  not  instructed  that  you  were  to  arrange  for  the  transporting 
of  my  command ;  if  so,  you  would  surely  have  been  instructed  as  to 
our  destination.  "We  are  accustomed  to  much  longer  journeys  on 
foot  in  pursuance  of  out  ordinary  avocations.  I  can  see  no  objec- 
tion, however,  to  our  remaining  where  we  are  until  such  time  as 
orders  may  be  received  from  General  Scott.  But  without  further 
explanation  from  yourself,  or  greater  inconveniences  than  you  sug- 
gest, I  see  no  reason  why  I  should  make  such  delay.  Hoping  for 
the  opportunity  of  an  immediate  personal  interview,  I  remain,  etc." 

Captain  Blake  came  off  to  the  steamer  at  dawn  of  day,  and  soon 
found  himself  at  home  among  his  countrymen. 

"  Can  you  help  me  off  with  the  Constitution  ?  Will  your  orders 
permit  you  ?" 

"  I  have  got  no  orders,"  replied  the  general.  "  I  am  making  war 
on  my  own  hook.  But  we  can't  be  wrong  in  saving  the  Constitu- 
tion.    That  is,  certainly,  what  we  came  to  do." 

How  the  regiment  now  went  to  work  with  a  will  to  save  the 
Constitution  ;  how  the  Maryland  moved  up  along  side,  and  put  on 
board  the  Salem  Zouaves  for  a  guard,  and  a  hundred  Marbleheaders 
for  sailors ;  how  they  tugged,  and  tramped,  and  lightened,  and 


ANNAPOLIS.  81 

heaved,  and  tugged,  and  tugged  again  ;  how  groups  of  sulk^  jecesh 
stood  scowling  around,  muttering  execrations  ;  how  the  old  frigate 
was  started  from  her  bed  of  mud  at  length,  amid  such  cheers  as 
Annapolis  had  never  heard  before,  and  has  not  heard  since  Cap- 
tain Blake  bursting  into  tears  of  joy  after  the  long  strain  upon  his 
nerves  ;  these  things  have  been  told,  and  have  not  been  forgotten. 

But  the  ship  was  not  yet  safe,  though  she  was  moving  slowly 
toward  safety.  General  Butler  had  now  been  positively  assured 
that  the  captain  of  his  ferry-boat  was  a  traitor  at  heart,  and  would 
like  nothing  better  than  to  run  both  steamer  and  frigate  on  a  mud 
bank.  He  doubted  the  statement,  which  indeed  was  false.  The 
man  was  half  paralyzed  with  terror,  and  was  thinking  of  nothing 
but  how  to  get  safely  out  of  the  hands  of  these  terrible  men. 
Nevertheless,  the  general  deemed  it  best  to  make  a  remark  or  two 
by  way  of  fortifying  his  virtuous  resolutions,  and  neutralizing  any 
hints  he  may  have  received  from  people  on  the  shore.  The  eugine- 
room  he  knew  was  conducted  in  the  interest  of  the  United  States, 
for  he  had  given  it  in  charge  to  four  of  his  own  soldiers.  He  had 
no  man  in  his  command  who  happened  to  be  personally  acquainted 
with  the  shallows  of  the  river  Severn. 

"  Captain,"  said  he,  "  have  you  faith  in  my  word?" 

"  Yes,"  said  the  captain. 

"  I  am  told  that  you  mean  to  run  us  aground.  I  think  not.  If 
you  do,  as  God  lives,  and  you  live,  I'll  blow  your  brains  out." 

The  poor  captain,  upon  hearing  these  words,  evinced  symptoms 
of  terror  so  remarkable,  as  to  convince  General  Butler  that  if  any 
mishap  befell  the  vessels,  it  would  not  be  owing  to  any  disaffection 
on  the  part  of  the  gentleman  in  the  pilot-house. 

All  seemed  to  be  going  well.  The  general  dozed  in  his  chair. 
He  woke  to  find  the  Maryland  fast  in  the  mud.  Believing  the  cap- 
tain's protestations,  and  the  navigation  being  really  difficult,  he  did 
not  molest  his  brains,  which  were  already  sufficiently  discomposed, 
but  ordered  him  into  confinement.  The  frigate  was  still  afloat,  and 
was,  soon  after,  towed  to  a  safe  distance  by  a  tug.  The  Eighth 
Massachusetts  could  boast  that  it  had  rendered  an  important  ser- 
vice. But  there  the  regiment  was  upon  a  bank  of  mud;  provisions 
nearly  consumed ;  water  casks  dry ;  and  the  sun  doing  its  duty. 
There  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  wait  for  the  rising  of  the  tide, 
and,  in  the  mean  time,  to  replenish  the  water  casks  from  the  shore. 


82  AKNAPOLIS. 

The  men  were  tired  and  hungry,  black  with  coal  dust,  and  tor- 
mented with  thirst,  but  still  cheerful,  and  even  merry ;  and  in  the 
twilight  of  the  Sunday  evening,  the  strains  of  religious  hymns  rose 
from  groups  who,  on  the  Sunday  before,  sang  them  in  the  choirs  of 
village  churches  at  home.  The  officers,  as  they  champed  their  bis- 
cuit, and  cut  their  pork  with  pocket  knives,  laughingly  alluded  to1 
the  superb  breakfast  given  them  on  the  morning  of  their  departure 
from  Philadelphia  by  Paran  Stephens  at  the  Continental.  Mr. 
Stephens,  a  son  of  Massachusetts,  had  employed  all  the  resources 
of  his  house  in  giving  his  countrymen  a  parting  meal.  The  sudden 
plunge  from  luxury  brought  to  the  perfection  of  one  of  the  fine 
arts,  to  army  rations,  scant  in  quantity,  ill-cooked,  and  a  short 
allowance  of  warm  water,  was  the  constant  theme  of  jocular  com- 
parison on  board  the  Maryland.  It  was  a  well-worn  joke,  to  call 
for  delicate  and  ludicrously  impossible  dishes,  which  were  remem- 
bered as  figuring  in  the  Continental's  bill  of  fare ;  the  demand  being 
gravely  answered  by  the  allowance  of  a  biscuit,  an  inch  of  salt 
pork,  and  a  tin  cup  half  full  of  water. 

General  Butler  improved  the  opportunity  of  going  on  shore.  He 
met  Governor  Hicks  and  the  mayor  of  Annapolis,  who  again  urged 
him  not  to  think  of  landing.  All  Maryland,  they  said,  was  on  the 
point  of  rushing  to  arms ;  the  railroad  was  impassable,  and  guarded 
by  armed  men ;  terrible  things  could  not  fail  to  happen,  if  the 
troops  attempted  to  reach  Washington. 

"I  must  land,"  said  the  general;  "my  men  are  hungry.  I 
could  not  even  leave  without  getting  a  supply  of  provisions." 

They  declared  that  no  one  in  Annapolis  would  sell  him  anything. 
To  which  the  general  replied,  that  he  hoped  better  things  of  the 
people  of  Annapolis ;  but,  in  any  case,  a  regiment  of  hungry  soldiers 
were  not  limited  to  the  single  method  of  procuring  supplies  usually 
practiced  in  time  of  peace.  There  were  modes  of  getting  food  other 
than  the  simple  plan  of  purchase.  Go  to  Washington  he  must  and 
should,  with  or  without  the  assistance  of  the  people  of  Annapolis. 
The  governor  still  refused  his  consent,  and,  the  next  day,  put  his 
refusal  into  writing  ;  "protesting  against  the  movement,  Which,  in 
the  excited  condition  of  the  people  of  this  state,  I  can  not  but  con- 
sider an  unwise  step  on  the  part  of  the  government.  But,"  he 
added,  "  I  must  earnestly  urge  upon  you,  that  there  shall  be  no 
halt  made  by  the  troops  in  this  city."     No  halt  ?     Seven  hundred 


A^JNAPOLIS.  83 

and  twenty-four  famishing  men,  with  a  march  of  thirty  miles  before 
them,  were  expected  to  pass  by  a  city  abounding  in  provisions,  and 
not  halt !     Great  is  Buncombe  ! 

Another  night  was  passed  on  board  the  Maryland.  The  dawn 
of  Monday  morning  brought  with  it  a  strange  apparition — a 
steamer  approaching  from  the  sea,  crammed  with  troops,  their  arms 
soon  glittering  in  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun.  Who  could  they  be  V 
They  cheered  the  stars  and  stripes  waving  from  the  mast  of  the 
rescued  Constitution ;  so  they  were  not  enemies,  at  least. 

The  steamer  proved  to  be  the  Boston,  with  the  New  York 
Seventh  on  board,  thirty-six  hours  from  Philadelphia.  They  had 
steamed  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac,  but,  on  speaking  the 
light-ships,  were  repeatedly  told  that  the  secessionists  had  stationed 
batteries  of  artillery  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  for  the  purpose  of 
preventing  the  ascent  of  troops.  There  was  no  truth  in  the  story, 
but  it  seemed  probable  enough  at  that  mad  time ;  and,  therefore, 
Colonel  Lefferts,  after  the  usual  consultation,  deemed  it  most  pru- 
dent to  change  his  course,  and  try  General  Butler's  road  to  the 
capital ;  the  regiment  by  no  means  relishing  the  change.  The  two 
regiments  exchanged  vigorous  volleys  of  cheers,  and  preparations 
were  soon  made  for  getting  the  Maryland  afloat. 

General  Butler,  counting  now  upon  Colonel  Lefferts's  hearty  co- 
operation, issued  to  his  own  troops  a  cheering  order  of  the  day : — 

"  At  five  o'clock  a.  m.  the  troops  will  be  called  by  companies  to  be  drilled 
in  the  manual  of  arms,  especially  in  loading  at  will  and  firing  by  file  in  the 
use  of  the  bayonet,  and  these  specialties  will  be  observed  in  all  subsequent 
drills  in  the  manual ;  such  drills  will  continue  until  7  o'clock ;  then  all  the 
arms  may  be  stacked  upon  the  upper  deck,  great  care  being  taken  to  instruct 
the  men  as  to  the  mode  of  stacking  their  arms,  so  that  a  firm  stack,  not  easily 
overturned,  shall  be  made.  Being  obliged  to  drill  at  times  with  the  weapons 
loaded,  great  damage  may  be  done  by  the  overturning  of  the  stack  and  the  dis- 
charge of  a  piece.  This  is  important.  Indeed,  an  accident  has  already  oc- 
curred in  the  regiment  from  this  cause,  and  although  slight  in  its  consequences, 
yet  it  warns  us  to  increased  diligence  in  this  regard. 

11  The  purpose  which  could  only  be  hinted  at  in  the  orders  of  yesterday 
has  been  accomplished.  The  frigate  Constitution  has  lain  for  a  long  time 
at  this  port  substantially  at  the  mercy  of  the  armed  mob  which  sometimes 
paralyzes  the  otherwise  loyal  state  of  Maryland.  Deeds  of  daring,  success- 
ful contests,  and  glorious  victories  had  rendered  Old  Ironsides  so  conspicuous 
in  the  naval  history  of  the  country,  that  she  was  fitly  chosen  as  the  school 
4* 


84  ANNAPOLIS. 

in  which  to  train  the  future  officers  of  the  navy  to  like  heroic  acts.  It  was 
given  to  Massachusetts  and  Essex  County  first  to  man  her ;  it  was  reserved 
to  Massachusetts  to  have  the  honor  to  retain  her  for  the  service  of  the  Union 
and  the  laws.  This  is  a  sufficient  triumph  of  right— a  sufficient  triumph 
for  us.  By  this  the  blood  of  our  friends  shed  by  the  Baltimore  mob  is  in  so 
far  avenged.  The  Eighth  regiment  may  hereafter  cheer  lustily  upon  all 
proper  occasions,  but  never  without  orders.  The  old  '  Constitution.'  by 
their  efforts,  aided  untiringly  by  the  United  States  officers  having  her  in 
charge,  is  now  safely  '  possessed,  occupied,  and  enjoyed'  by  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  and  is  safe  from  all  her  enemies. 

"  We  have  been  joined  by  the  Seventh  regiment  of  New  York,  and  together 
we  propose  peaceably,  quietly,  and  civilly,  unless  opposed  by  some  mob  or 
other  disorderly  persons,  to  march  to  Washington  in  obedience  to  the  re- 
quisition of  the  President  of  the  United  States ;  and  if  opposed,  we  shall 
march  steadily  forward.  My  next  order,  I  hardly  know  how  to  express. 
I  cannot  assume  that  any  of  the  citizen  soldiery  of  Massachusetts  or  New 
York  could,  under  any  circumstances  whatever,  commit  any  outrages  upon 
private  property  in  a  loyal  and  friendly  state;  but  fearing  that  some  im- 
proper person  may  have,  by  stealth,  introduced  himself  among  us,  I  deem 
it  propjr  to  state  that  any  unauthorized  interference  with  private  property 
will  be  most  signally  punished,  and  full  reparation  therefor  be  made  to  the 
injured  party,  to  the  full  extent  of  my  power  and  ability.  In  so  doing  I  but 
carry  out  the  orders  of  the  War  Department.  I  should  have  done  so  with- 
out those  orders. 

"  Colonel  Monroe  will  cause  these  orders  to  be  read  at  the  head  of  each  com- 
pany before  we  march.  Colonel  Lefferts's  command  not  having  been  originally 
included  in  this  order,  he  will  be  furnished  with  a  copy  ibr  his  instruction." 

The  Maryland  could  not  be  floated.  The  men  threw  overboard 
coal  and  crates,  and  all  heavy  articles  that  could  be  spared.  The 
Boston  tugged  her  strongest.  The  Eighth  ran  in  masses  from  side 
to  side,  and  from  end  to  end.  After  many  hours  of  strenuous  exer- 
tion, the  men  suffering  extremely  from  thirst  and  hunger,  the  gene- 
ral himself  not  tasting  a  drop  of  liquid  for  twelve  hours,  the  attempt 
was  given  up,  and  it  was  resolved  that  the  Boston  should  land  the 
Seventh  at  the  grounds  of  the  Naval  Academy,  and  then  convey  to 
the  same  place  the  Massachusetts  Eighth. 

Desirous  not  to  seem  wanting  in  courtesy  to  a  sovereign  state, 
General  Butler  now  sent  to  Governor  Hicks,  a  formal  written 
request  for  permission  to  land.  The  answer  being  delayed  and  his 
men  almost  fainting  for  water,  he  then  dispatched  a  respectful  note 
announcing  his  intention  to  land  forthwith.     It  was  to  these  notes 


ANNAPOLIS.  85 

that  Governor  Hicks  sent  the  reply,  already  quoted,  protesting 
against  the  landing,  and  urging  that  no  halt  be  made  at  Annapolis. 

In  the  course  of  the  afternoon,  both  regiments  were  safely  landed 
at  the  academy  grounds,  and  the  Seventh  hastened  to  share  all  they 
had  of  provender  and  drink  with  their  new  friends.  The  men  of 
the  two  regiments  fraternized  immediately  and  completely ;  nothing 
occurred,  during  the  laborious  days  and  nights  that  followed,  to 
disturb,  for  an  instant,  the  perfect  harmony  that  reigned  between 
them.  The  only  contest  was,  which .  should  do  most  to  help,  and 
cheer,  and  relieve  the  other. 

I  regret  to  be  obliged  to  state  that  this  pleasant  state  of  affairs  did 
not  extend  at  all  times,  to  the  powers  controlling  the  two  regiments. 
An  obstacle,  little  expected,  now  arose  in  General  Butler's  path. 

From  the  moment  when  the  Seventh  had  entered  the  grounds  of 
the  naval  school,  systematic  attempts  appear  to  have  been  made  to 
alarm  Colonel  Leiferts  for  the  safety  of  his  command.  Messengers 
came  in  with  reports  that  the  academy  was  surrounded  with  rebel 
troops ;  and  even  the  loyal  middies  could  testify,  that  during  that 
very  day,  a  force  of  Maryland  militia  had  been  drilling  in  the  town 
itself.  True,  this  force  consisted  of  only  one  company  of  infantry 
and  one  of  cavalry ;  but  probably  the  exact  truth  was  not  known 
to  Colonel  Lefferts's  informants.  Certain  it  is,  that  he  was  made  to 
believe  that  formidable  bodies  of  armed  men  only  waited  the  issue 
of  the  regiments  from  the  gates  of  the  walled  inclosure  in  which 
they  were,  to  give  them  battle,  if,  indeed,  the  inclosure  itself  was 
safe  from  attack.  Accordingly  he  posted  strong  guards  at  the  gates, 
and  ordered  that  no  soldier  should  be  allowed  to  pass  out.  ISTor 
were  his  apprehensions  allayed  when  a  Tribune  reporter,  who,  ac- 
companied by  two  friends,  had  strolled  all  over  the  town  unmolest- 
ed, brought  back  word  that  no  enemy  was  in  sight,  and  that  the 
storekeepers  of  Annapolis  were  perfectly  civil  and  willing  to  sell 
their  goods  to  Union  soldiers.  Colonel  Lefferts  was  assured  that 
the  hostile  troops  were  purposely  keeping  out  of  sight,  to  fall  upon 
the  regiment  where  it  could  fight  only  at  a  fatal  disadvantage. 

Consequently,  he  determined  not  to  march  with  General  Butbr. 
He  placed  his  refusal  in  writing,  in  the  following  words : — 

"  Annapolis  Academy,  Monday  Night,  April  22d,  1861. 
u  General  B.  F.  Butler,  Commanding  Massachusetts  Volunteers. 

"  Sik-  -  Coon  consultation  with  my  officers,  I  do  not  deem  it  proper,  under 


86  ANNAPOLIS. 

the  circumstances,  to  co-operate  in  the  proposed  march  by  railroad,  laying 
track  as  we  go  along — particularly  in  view  of  a  large  force  hourly  expected, 
and  with  so  little  ammunition  as  we  possess.  I  must  he  governed  hy  my 
officers  in  a  matter  of  so  much  importance.  I  have  directed  this  to  be 
handed  to  you  upon  your  return  from  the  transport  ship. 

u  I  am,  sir,  yours  respectfully,  Marshall  Leffebts." 

It  was  handed  to  the  general  on  his  return  from  the  transport 
ship.  He  sought  an  interview  with  Colonel  Lefferts,  and  endea- 
vored to  change  his  resolve.  Vain  were  arguments ;  vain  remon- 
strance ;  vain  the  biting  taunt.  Colonel  Lefferts  still  refused  to  go. 
General  Butler  then  said  he  would  go  alone,  he  and  his  regiment, 
and  proceeded  forthwith  to  prepare  for  their  departure.  He  in- 
stantly ordered  two  companies  of  the  Massachusetts  Eighth  to 
march  out  of  the  walled  grounds  of  the  academy,  and  seize  the  rail- 
road depot  and  storehouse.  With  the  two  companies,  he  marched 
himself  to  the  depot,  and  took  possession  of  it  without  opposition. 
At  the  storehouse,  one  man  opposed  them,  the  keeper  in  charge. 

"  What  is  inside  this  building  ?"  asked  the  general. 

"  Nothing,"  replied  the  man. 

"  Give  me  the  key." 

"  I  hav'nt  got  it." 

"Where  is  it?" 

"I  don't  know." 

"  Boys,  can  you  force  those  gates  ?" 

The  boys  expressed  an  abundant  willingness  to  try. 

"Try,  then." 

They  tried.     The  gates  yielded,  and  flew  open. 

A  small,  rusty,  damaged  locomotive  was  found  to  be  the  "  noth- 
ing," which  the  building  held. 

"  Does  any  one  here  know  anything  about  this  machine  ?" 

Charles  Homans,  a  private  of  company  E,  eyed  the  engine  for  a 
moment,  and  said : 

"  Our  shop  made  that  engine,  general.  I  guess  I  can  put  her  in 
order  and  run  her." 

"  Go  to  work,  and  do  it." 

Charles  Homans  picked  out  a  man  or  two  to  help,  and  beo-an  at 
once,  to  obey  the  order. 

Leaving  a  strong  guard  at  the  depot,  the  general  viewed  the 
track,  and  ascertained  that  the  rails  had,  indeed,  been  torn  up,  and 


ANNAPOLIS.  87 

thrown  aside,  or  carelessly  bidden.  Returning  to  the  regiment,  he 
ordered  a  muster  of  men  accustomed  to  track-laying ;  who,  with  the 
dawn  of  the  next  day,  should  begin  to  repair  the  road. 

At  sunset  that  evening,  the  Seventh  regiment,  to  the  delight  of  a 
concourse  of  midshipmen  and  other  spectators,  performed  a  brilliant 
evening  parade,  to  the  music  of  a  full  band. 

Two  members  of  this  regiment  (many  more  than  two,  but  two 
especially),  preferred  the  work  that  General  Butler  was  doing,  and 
implored  him  to  give  them  an  humble  share  in  it.  One  of  them 
was  Schuyler  Hamilton,  grandson  of  one  of  the  men  whose  names 
he  bore,  and  great-grandson  of  the  other ;  since  distinguished  hi 
the  war,  and  now  General  Hamilton.  The  other  was  Theodore 
Winthrop.  General  Butler  found  a  place  on  his  staff  for  Schuyler 
Hamilton,  who  rendered  services  of  the  utmost  value ;  he  was  wise 
in  counsel,  valiant  and  prompt  to  execute.  To  Winthrop  the 
general  said : 

"Serve  out  your  time  in  your  regiment.  Then  come  to  me, 
wherever  I  am,  and  I  will  find  something  for  you  to  do." 

Happily,  a  change  came  over  the  minds  of  the  officers  of  the 
Seventh  the  next  morning.  As  late  as  three  o'clock  at  night, 
Colonel  Lefferts  was  still  resolved  to  remain  at  Annapolis ;  for,  at 
that  hour,  he  sent  off  a  messenger,  in  an  open  boat,  for  New  York, 
bearing  dispatches  asking  for  reinforcements  and  supplies.  He 
informed  the  messenger  that  he  had  certain  information  of  the 
presence  of  four  rebel  regiments  at  the  Junction,  where  the  grand 
attack  was  to  be  made  upon  the  passing  troops.  But  when  the  day 
dawned,  and  the  cheering  sun  rose,  and  it  became  clear  that  the 
Massachusetts  men  at  the  depot  had  not  been  massacred,  and  were 
certainly  going  to  attempt  the  inarch,  then  the  officers  of  the  Seventh 
came  into  General  Butler's  scheme,  and  agreed  to  join  their  breth- 
ren of  Massachusetts.  From  that  time  forward,  there  was  no  hang- 
ing back.  Both  regiments  worked  vigorously  in  concert — "Win- 
throp foremost  among  the  foremost,  all  ardor,  energy  and  merri- 
ment. Campaigning  was  an  old  story  to  him,  who  had  roamed 
the  world  over  in  quest  of  adventure ;  and  few  men,  of  the  thousands 
who  were  then  rushing  to  the  war,  felt  the  greatness  and  the  holi- 
ness of  the  cause  as  he  felt  it.  Before  leaving  home,  he  had 
solemnly  given  his  life  to  it,  and,  in  so  doing,  tasted,  for  the  first 
time,  perhaps,  a  joy  that  satisfied  him. 


88  AXXA.POLIS. 

It  would  be  unfair  to  censure  Colonel  Lefferts  for  his  excessive 
prudence.  He  really  believed  the  stories  told  him  of  the  resistance 
he  was  to  meet  on  the  way.  Granting  that  those  tales  were  true, 
his  course  was,  perhaps,  correct.  The  general  had  one  great  advan- 
tage over  him  in  the  nature  of  his  professional  training.  General 
Butler  is  one  of  the  most  vigorous  and  skillful  cross-questioners  in 
[New  England.  In  other  words,  he  had  spent  twenty  years  of  his 
life  in  detecting  the  true  from  the  plausible ;  in  dragging  up  half- 
drowned  Truth,  by  her  dripping  locks,  from  the  bottom  of  her  well. 
Such  practice  gives  a  man  at  last  a  kind  of  intuitive  power  of 
detecting  falsehood ;  he  acquires  a  habit  of  balancing  probabilities, 
he  scents  a  lie  from  afar.  Doubtless,  he  believed  their  march  might 
be  opposed  at  some  favorable  point ;  but,  probably,  he  had  too  a 
tolerable  certainty  that  slow,  indolent,  divided  Maryland,  could  not, 
or  would  not,  on  such  short  notice,  assemble  a  force  on  the  line  of 
railroad,  caj)able  of  stopping  a  Massachusetts  regiment  bound  to 
Washington  on  a  legitimate  errand.  He  had  had,  at  Havre  de 
Grace,  a  striking  instance  of  the  difference  between  truth  and  ru- 
mor, and  his  whole  life  had  been  full  of  such  experiences.  Colonel 
Lefferts,  as  a  New  York  merchant,  had  passed  his  life  among 
people  who  generally  speak  the  truth,  and  keep  their  word.  He 
was  unprepared  to  believe  that  a  dozen  people  could  come  to  him, 
all  telling  substantially  the  same  story,  many  of  them  believing 
what  they  told,  and  yet  all  uttering  falsehoods. 

Tuesday  was  a  busy  day  of  preparation  for  the  march.  Rails 
were  hunted  up  and  laid.  Parties  were  pushed  out  in  many  direc- 
tions but  found  no  armed  enemies.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hinks,  with 
two  companies  of  the  Massachusetts  Eighth,  advanced  along  the 
railroad  three  miles  and  a  half,  without  meeting  the  slightest 
appearance  of  opposition.  Soldiers  strolled  about  the  town,  and 
discovered  that  the  grimmest  secessionist  was  not  unwilling  to 
exchange  such  commodities  as  he  had  for  coin  of  the  United  States. 
2>Tegroes  gave  furtive  signs  of  good  will,  and  produced  baskets  of 
cakes  for  sale.  Madame  Humor  was  extremely  diligent;  there 
were  bodies  of  cavalry  here,  and  batteries  of  artillery  there,  and 
gangs  of  Plug-TTglies  coming  from  terrible  Baltimore.  The  soldiers 
worked  away,  unmolested  by  anything  more  formidable  than  vague 
threats  of  comma;  vengeance. 

General  Butler  received  and  wrote  divers  brief  epistles  in  the 


ANNAPOLIS.  89 

course  of  the  day.  Early  in  the  morning  he  took  the  liberty  of  in- 
quiring of  the  master  of  transportation,  whether  the  rails  of  the 
road  had  been  taken  up  "  for  the  purpose  of  hindering  the  transpor- 
tation of  the  United  States  militia  under  my  charge  to  Washington. 
An  immediate  and  explicit  answer  is  desired."  An  immediate  and 
explicit  answer  was  returned,  that  the  rails  had  been  removed  for 
the  purpose  mentioned ;  a  mob  having  threatened  to  destroy  the 
road  if  any  troops  of  the  United  States  should  pass  over  it  to  Wash- 
ington. The  master  of  transportation  desired  to  know  by  what 
authority  General  Butler  had  taken  possession  of  the  property  of 
the  railroad  company.     The  general  replied : 

"  I  will  answer  your  inquiry  with  the  same  explicitness  that  you 
did  mine.  My  authority  is  the  order  of  the  government.  My  jus- 
tification, the  necessity  for  transportation.  Your  reparation,  the 
pledge  of  the  faith  of  the  government." 

He  also  informed  the  gentleman  that  a  list  of  the  property  seized, 
and  a  receipt  therefor,  had  been  given  to  the  person  found  in  charge. 

A  startling  rumor  prevailed  in  the  morning  that  the  negroes  in 
the  vicinity  of  Annapolis  were  about  to  rise  against  their  masters, 
and  do  something  in  the  St.  Domingo  style — as  per  general  expec- 
tation. The  commanding  general  thought  it  proper  to  address  to 
Governor  Hicks  the  letter  which  became  rather  famous  in  those  days : 

"  I  did  myself  the  honor,  in  my  communication  of  yesterday, 
wherein  I  asked  permission  to  land  on  the  soil  of  Maryland,  to 
inform  you  that  the  portion  of  the  militia  under  my  command  were 
armed  only  against  the  disturbers  of  the  peace  of  the  state  of  Mary- 
land and  of  the  United  States. 

"  I  have  understood  within  the  last  hour  that  some  apprehension 
is  entertained  of  an  insurrection  of  the  negro  population  of  this 
neighborhood.  I  am  anxious  to  convince  all  classes  of  persons  that 
the  forces  under  my  command  are  not  here  in  any  way  to  interfere, 
or  countenance  an  interference,  with  the  laws  of  the  state.  I,  there- 
fore, am  ready  to  co-operate  with  your  excellency  in  suppressing  most 
promptly  and  efficiently  any  insurrection  against  the  laws  of  the  state 
of  Maryland.  I  beg,  therefore,  that  you  announce  publicly,  that  any 
portion  of  the  forces  under  my  command  is  at  your  excellency's 
disposal,  to  act  immediately  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace  of  this 
community." 

The  governor  gave  immediate  pub  icity  to  this  letter,  and  it  is 


90  ANNAPOLIS. 

said  to  have  had  a  remarkable  effect  in  quieting  the  apprehensions 
of  the  people.  Many  who  had  fled  from  their  homes  returned  to 
them,  and  gave  aid  and  comfort  to  the  troops.  The  governor, 
however,  was  still  in  a  protesting  humor.  His  next  communi- 
cation to  the  general  was  the  following : 

"  Having,  by  virtue  of  the  powers  vested  in  me  by  the  constitu- 
tion of  Maryland,  summoned  the  legislature  of  the  state  to  assemble 
on  Friday,  the  26th  instant,  and  Annapolis  being  the  place  in  Avhich, 
according  to  law,  it  must  assemble ;  and  having  been  credibly  in- 
formed that  you  have  taken  military  possession  of  the  Annapolis 
and  Elk  Ridge  railroad,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  protest  against  this 
step  ;  because,  without  at  present  assigning  any  other  reason,  I  am 
informed  that  such  occupation  of  said  road  will  prevent  the  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature  from  reaching  this  city." 

To  which  General  Butler  replied : 

"  You  are  correctly  informed  that  I  have  taken  possession  of  the 
Annapolis  and  Elk  Ridge  railroad.  It  might  have  escaped  your 
notice,  but  at  the  official  meeting  which  was  had,  between  your 
excellency  and  the  mayor  of  Annapolis  and  the  committee  of  the 
government  and  myself,  as  to  the  landing  of  my  troops,  it  was  ex- 
pressly stated,  as  the  reason  why  I  should  not  land,  that  my  troops 
could  not  pass  the  railroad,  because  the  company  had  taken  up  the 
rails,  and  they  were  private  property.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  it 
can  be,  that  if  my  troops  could  not  pass  over  the  railroad  one  way, 
the  members  of  the  legislature  could  pass  the  other  way.  I  have 
taken  possession  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  execution  of  the 
threats  of  the  mob,  as  officially  represented  to  me  by  the  master  of 
transportation  of  the  railroad  in  this  city,  '  that  if  my  troops  passed 
over  the  railroad,  the  railroad  should  be  destroyed.' 

"  If  the  government  of  the  state  had  taken  possession  of  the  road 
in  any  emergency,  I  should  have  long  hesitated  before  entering  upon 
it ;  but  as  I  had  the  honor  to  inform  your  excellency  in  regard  to 
another  insurrection  against  the  laws  of  Maryland,  I  am  here  armed 
to  maintain  those  laws,  if  your  excellency  desires,  and  the  peace  of 
the  United  States  against  all  disorderly  persons  whatsoever.  I  am 
endeavoring  to  save  and  not  to  destroy ;  to  obtain  means  of  trans- 
portation, so  that  I  can  vacate  the  capital  prior  to  the  sitting  of  the 
legislature,  and  not  be  under  the  painful  necessity  of  incumbering 
your  beautiful  city  while  the  legislature  is  in  session." 


ANNAPOLIS.  9 1 

All  was  in  readiness  for  the  start  before  the  men  slept  that  night. 
The  engine  had  been  tried,  and  found  sufficient.  A  few  platform 
cars  had  been  discovered.  The  general  in  command,  issued  the 
order  for  the  march,  in  which  he  endeavored  to  provide  for  all 
probable  events: 

"  The  detachment  of  the  Eighth,  under  command  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Hinks,  which  has  already  pushed  forward  and  occupied  the 
railroad  three  and  one-half  miles,  will  remain  at  its  advance  until 
joined  by  two  companies  of  the  New  York  Seventh,  which  will 
take  the  train  now  in  our  possession,  and  push  forward  as  far  as  the 
track  is  left  uninjured  by  the  mob.  These  companies  will  then  leave 
the  cars,  and,  throwing  out  proper  skirmishers,  carefully  scour  the 
country  along  the  line  of  the  road,  while  the  working  party  of  the 
Eighth  is  repairing  the  track ;  taking  care,  however,  not  to  advance 
so  fast  as  not  to  be  in  reach  of  the  main  body,  in  case  of  an  attack. 
The  train  of  cars  will  return,  and  take  up  the  advanced  detachment 
of  the  Eighth  now  holding  possession  of  the  deput.  These  will 
again  go  forward  as  far  as  can  be  done  with  safety,  on  account  of 
the  state  of  the  track,  when  they  will  leave  the  train,  assist  the 
party  repairing  it,  and  push  forward  as  rapidly  as  possible,  taking 
care  that  the  track  is  put  in  order  for  the  passage  of  the  train.  In 
the  mean  time,  the  train  will  return  to  the  depot,  and  taking  on 
board  such  a  portion  of  the  baggage  as  may  be  proper,  will  again 
go  forward.  The  remaining  portions  of  the  Massachusetts  and  New 
York  regiments  will  put  themselves  on  the  march,  and  consolidate 
the  two  regiments  as  rapidly  as  possible."  Minute  directions  fol- 
low respecting  the  supply  of  provisions,  the  halt  of  two  hours  in 
the  middle  of  the  day,  the  sacredness  of  private  property,  and  the 
measures  to  be  used,  if  the  troops  were  attacked. 

Early  the  next  morning,  the  troops  were  in  motion.  It  was  a 
bright,  warm  spring  day,  the  sun  gleaming  along  the  line  of  bayo- 
nets, the  groves  vocal  with  birds,  the  air  fragrant  with  blossoms. 
The  engine  driven  by  Charles  Homans, — a  soldier  with  fixed  bayonet 
on  each  side  of  him, — came  and  went  panting  through  the  line  of 
marching  troops.  As  the  sun  climbed  toward  the  zenith,  the 
morning  breeze  died  away,  and  the  air  in  the  deeper  cuttings  be- 
came suffocatingly  warm.  The  working  parties,  more  used  to  such 
a  temperature,  plied  the  sledge  and  the  crowbar  unflaggingly,  but 
the   daintier   New  Yorkers  reeled  under  their  heavy  knapsacks, 


92  ANNAPOLIS. 

and  were  glad,  at  length,  to  leave  them  to  the  charge  of  Homans. 
With  all  their  toil,  the  regiments  could  only  advance  at  the  rate  of 
a  mile  an  hour,  for  the  farther  they  went,  the  more  complete  was 
the  destruction  of  the  road.  Bridges  had  to  be  repaired,  as  well  as 
rails  replaced.  A  shower  in  the  afternoon  gave  all  parties  a  wel- 
come drenching,  and  left  the  atmosphere  cool  and  bracing;  but 
when  night  closed  in,  and  the  moon  rose,  they  were  still  many  miles 
from  the  junction. 

"  O  Gottschalk !"  exclaims  Winthrop,  "  what  a  poetic  night 
march  we  then  began  to  play,  with  our  heels  and  toes  on  the  rail- 
road track !" 

"  It  was  full-moonlight  and  the  night  inexpressibly  sweet  and 
serene.  The  air  was  cool,  and  vivified  by  the  gust  and  shower  of 
the  afternoon.  Fresh  spring  was  in  every  breath.  Our  fellows  had 
forgotten  that  this  morning  they  were  hot  and  disgusted.  Every 
one  hugged  his  rifle  as  if  it  were  the  arm  of  the  Girl  of  his  Heart, 
and  stepped  out  gayly  for  the  promenade.  Tired  or  foot-sore  men, 
or  even  lazy  ones,  could  mount  upon  the  two  freight-cars  we  were 
using  for  artillery-wagons.  There  were  stout  arms  enough  to  tow 
the  whole. 

"  It  was  an  original  kind  of  march.  I  suppose  a  battery  of  howit- 
zers never  before  found  itself  mounted  upon  cars,  ready  to  open  fire 
at  once,  and  bang  away  into  the  offing  with  shrapnel  or  into  the 
bushes  with  canister.  Our  line  extended  a  half-mile  along  the  track. 
It  was  beautiful  to  stand  on  the  bank  above  a  cutting  and  watch 
the  files  strike  from  the  shadow  of  a  wood  into  a  broad  flame  of 
moonlight,  every  rifle  sparkling  up  alert  as  it  came  forward.  A 
beautiful  sight  to  see  the  barrels  writing  themselves  upon  the  dim- 
ness, each  a  silver  flash. 

"  By-and-by,  t  Halt !'  came,  repeated  along  from  the  front,  com- 
pany after  company.     '  Halt !  a  rail  gone.' 

"  From  this  time  on  we  were  constantly  interrupted.  Not  a  half- 
mile  passed  without  a  rail  up.  Bonnell  was  always  at  the  front  lay- 
ing track,  and  I  am  proud  to  say  that  he  accepted  me  as  aid-de- 
camp. Other  fellows,  unknown  to  me  in  the  dark,  gave  iiearty 
help.  The  Seventh  showed  that  it  could  do  something  else  than 
drill. 

"  At  one  spot,  on  a  high  embankment  over  standing  water,  the 
rail  was  gone,  sunk  probably.     Here  we  tried  our  rails,  brought 


ANNAPOLIS.  93 

from  the  turn-out.  They  were  too  short.  We  supplemented  with 
a  length  of  plank  from  our  stores.  We  rolled  our  cars  carefully- 
over.  They  passed  safe.  But  Homans  shook  his  head.  He  could 
not  venture  a  locomotive  on  that  frail  stuff.  So  we  lost  the  society 
of  the  *  J.  H.  Nicholson/  Next  day  the  Massachusetts  commander 
called  for  some  one  to  dive  in  the  pool  for  the  lost  rail.  Plump  into 
the  water  went  a  little  wiry  chap  and  grappled  the  rail.  5  When  I 
come  up,'  says  the  brave  fellow  afterward  to  me,  *  our  officer  out 
with  a  twenty-dollar  gold  piece  and  wanted  me  to  take  it.  '  That 
a'n't  what  I  come  for,'  says  I.  *  Take  it,'  says  he,  *  and  share  with 
the  others.'  '  That  a'n't  what  they  come  for,'  says  I.  But  I  took 
a  big  cold,'  the  diver  continued, '  and  I'm  condemned  hoarse  yit,' — 
which  was  the  fact. 

"  Farther  on  we  found  a  whole  length  of  track  torn  Up,  on  both 
sides,  sleepers  and  all,  and  the  same  thing  repeated  with  alternations 
of  breaks  of  single  rails.  Our  howitzer-ropes  came  into  play  to 
hoist  and  haul.     We  were  not  going  to  be  stopped." 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  day  following,  the  Seventh  marched  by 
the  White  House,  and  saluted  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
Not  an  armed  foe  had  been  seen  by  them  on  the  way. 

It  had  been  General  Butler's  intention  to  accompany  the  troops 
to  Washington  ;  but  before  they  had  started  the  steamer  Baltic  ar- 
rived, loaded  with  troops  from  New  York,  giving  abundant  em- 
ployment to  the  general  and  his  extemporized  staff.  Before  they 
had  been  disposed  of,  other  vessels  arrived,  and,  on  the  day  fol- 
lowing, came  an  order  from  General  Scott,  directing  General  Butler 
to  remain  at  Annapolis,  hold  the  town  and  the  road,  and  superin- 
tend the  passage  of  the  troops.  Before  the  week  ended,  the  "  de- 
partment of  Annapolis,"  embracing  the  country  lying  twenty  miles 
on  each  side  of  the  railroad,  was  created,  and  Brigadier-General 
Butler  placed  in  command;  with  ample  powers,  extending  even  to 
the  suspension  of  habeas  corpus,  and  the  bombardment  of  Annapo- 
lis, if  such  extreme  measures  should  be  necessary  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  supremacy  of  the  United  States. 

During  the  next  ten  days,  General  Butler's  unequaled  talent  for 
the  dispatch  of  business,  and  his  unequaled  powers  of  endurance, 
were  taxed  to  the  uttermost.  Troops  arrived,  thousands  in  a  day. 
The  harbor  was  filled  with  transports.  Every  traveler  from  North 
or  South  was  personally  examined,  and  his  passport  indorsed  by 


94  ANNAPOLIS. 

the  general  in  command.  Spies  were  arrested.  The  legislature  of 
Maryland  was  closely  watched,  and  no  secret  was  made  of  General 
Butler's  intention  to  arrest  the  entire  majority  if  an  ordinance  of; 
secession  was  passed.  It  was  not  known  to  that  body,  I  presume, 
that  one  of  their  officers  had  consigned  to  General  Butler's  custody 
the  Great  Seal  of  the  Common  wealth,  without  which  no  act  of  theirs 
could  acquire  the  validity  of  law.  Such  was  the  fact,  however. 
In  the  total  inexperience  of  commanding  officers,  every  detail  of  the 
disembarkation,  of  the  encampments,  of  the  supply,  and  of  the  march, 
required  the  supervision  of  the  general.  From  daylight  until  mid- 
night he  labored,  keeping  chaos  at  bay.  One  night  as  the  clock  was 
striking  twelve,  when  the  general,  after  herculean  toils,  had-  cleared 
his  office  of  the  last  bewildered  applicant  for  advice  or  orders,  and 
he  was  about  to  trudge  wearily  to  bed,  an  anxious-looking  corre- 
spondent of  a  newspaper  came  in. 

"  General,"  said  he,  "  where  am  I  to  sleep  to-night  ?" 

This  was,  really,  too  much. 

"  Sir,"  said  the  tired  commander  of  the  Department  of  Annapolis, 
"  I  have  done  to-day  about  everything  that  a  man  ever  did  in  this 
world.    But  I  am  not  going  to  turn  chambermaid,  by  Jove  !" 

And,  so  saying,  he  escaped  from  the  room. 

We  need  not  linger  at  Annapolis.  General  Butler's  services 
there  were  duly  appreciated  by  the  president,  the  lieutenant-gen- 
eral, Governor  Andrew,  and  the  country.  One  act  alone  of  his 
elicited  any  sign  of  disapproval ;  it  was  his  offer  of  the  troops  of 
Massachusetts  to  the  governor  of  Maryland,  to  aid  in  suppressing 
an  insurrection  of  the  slaves.  It  is  proper  that  we  should  place  on 
convenient  record  here  his  reasons  for  that  step,  with  the  letter  of 
Governor  Andrew,  which  called  them  forth. 

goveenob  andbew  to  geneeal  butlee. 

Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts, 
Executive  Depaetment, 
Council  Chambee,  Boston,  April  25,  1861. 
Geneeal  :  I  have  received,  through  Mayor  Ames,  a  dispatch  transmitted 
from  Perry ville,  detailing  the  proceedings  at  Annapolis  from  the  time  of 
your  arrival  off  that  port  until  the  hour  when  Major  Ames  left  you  to  re- 
turn to  Philadelphia.     I  wish  to  repeat  the  assurance  of  my  entire  satisfac- 
tion with  the  action  you  have  taken,  with  a  single  exception.     If  I  rightly 


ANNAPOLIS.  95 

understood  the  telegraphic  dispatch,  I  think  that  your  action  in  tendering 
to  Governor  Hicks  the  assistance  of  our  Massachusetts  troops  to  suppress  a 
threatened  servile  insurrection  among  the  hostile  people  of  Maryland  was 
unnecessary.  I  hope  that  the  fuller  dispatches,  which  are  on  their  way 
from  you,  may  show  reasons  why  I  should  modify  my  opinion  concerning 
that  particular  instance  ;  but,  in  general,  I  think  that  the  matter  of  servile 
insurrection  among  a  community  in  arms  against  the  Federal  Union,  is  no 
longer  to  be  regarded  by  our  troops  in  a  political,  but  solely  in  a  military 
point  of  view,  and  is  to  be  contemplated  as  one  of  the  inherent  weaknesses 
of  the  enemy,  from  the  disastrous  operations  of  which  we  are  under  no 
obligation  of  a  military  character  to  guard  them,  in  order  that  they  may  be 
enabled  to  improve  the  security  which  our  arms  would  afford,  so  as  to 
prosecute  with  more  energy  their  traitorous  attacks  upon  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment and  capital.  The  mode  in  which  such  outbreaks  are  to  be  con- 
sidered, should  depend  entirely  upon  the  loyalty  or  disloyalty  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  they  occur,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Annapolis,  I  can,  on 
this  occasion,  perceive  no  reason  of  military  policy,  why  a  force  summoned 
to  the  defense  of  the  Federal  government,  at  this  moment  of  all  others, 
should  be  offered  to  be  diverted  from  its  immediate  duty,  to  help  rebels, 
who  stand  with  arms  in  their  hands,  obstructing  its  progress  toward  the 
city  of  "Washington.  I  entertain  no  doubt  that  whenever  we  shall  have  an 
opportunity  to  interchange  our  views  personally  on  this  subject,  we  shall 
arrive  at  entire  concordance  of  opinion.     Yours  faithfully, 

John  A.  Andrew. 


general  butler  to  goveenoe  andeew. 

Depaetment  of  Annapolis, 
Head-quaeters,  Annapolis,  May  9,  1861. 
To  His  Excellency  John  A.  Andeew,  Governor  and  Commander-in-Chief: 

Sie  : — I  have  delayed  replying  to  your  excellency's  dispatch  of  the  25th 
April,  in  my  other  dispatches,  because  as  it  involved  only  disapprobation 
of  an  act  done,  couched  in  the  kindest  language,  I  supposed  the  interest  of 
the  country  could  not  suffer  in  the  delay ;  and  incessant  labor  up  to  the 
present  moment,  has  prevented  me  giving  full  consideration  to  the  topic. 
Temporary  illness,  which  forbids  bodily  activity,  gives  me  now  a  moment's 
pause. 

The  telegraph,  with  more  than  usual  accuracy,  had  rightly  informed  your 
excellency  that  I  had  offered  the  services  of  the  Massachusetts  troops  under 
my  command  to  aid  the  authorities  of  Maryland  in  suppressing  a  threatened 
slave  insurrection.  Fortunately  for  us,  all  the  rumor  of  such  an  outbreak 
was  without  substantial  foundation.  Assuming,  as  your  excellency  does, 
in  your  dispatch,  that  T  was  carrying  on  military  operations  in  an  enemy's 


96  ANNAPOLIS. 

country,  when  a  war  a  Voutrance  was  to  be  waged,  my  act  might  bo  a  mat- 
ter of  discussion.  And  in  that  view,  acting  in  the  light  of  the  Baltimore 
murders,  and  the  apparent  hostile  position  of  Maryland,  your  excellency 
might,  without  mature  reflection,  have  come  to  the  conclusion  of  disappro- 
bation expressed  in  your  dispatch.  But  the  facts,  especially  as  now  aided 
by  their  results,  will  entirely  justify  my  act,  and  reinstate  me  in  your  excel- 
lency's good  opinion. 

True,  I  landed  on  the  soil  of  Maryland  against  the  formal  protest  of  its 
governor  and  of  the  corporate  authorities  of  Annapolis,  but  without  any 
armed  opposition  on  their  part,  and  expecting  opposition  only  from  insur- 
gents assembled  in  riotous  contempt  of  the  laws  of  the  state.  Before,  by 
letter,  and  at  the  time  of  landing,  by  personal  interview,  I  had  informed 
Governor  Hicks  that  soldiers  of  the  Union,  under  my  command,  were 
armed  only  against  the  insurgents  and  disturbers  of  the  peace  of  Maryland 
and  of  the  United  States.  I  received  from  Governor  Hicks  assurances  of 
the  loyalty  of  the  state  to  the  Union — assurances  which  subsequent  events 
have  fully  justified.  The  mayor  of  Annapolis  also  informed  me  that  the 
city  authorities  would  in  no  wise  oppose  me,  but  that  I  was  in  great  dan- 
ger from  the  excited  and  riotoas  mobs  of  Baltimore  pouring  down  upon 
me,  and  in  numbers  beyond  the  control  of  the  police.  I  assured  both  the 
governor  and  the  mayor  that  I  had  no  fear  of  a  Baltimore  or  other  mob, 
and  that,  supported  by  the  authorities  of  the  state  and  city,  I  should 
repress  all  hostile  demonstrations  against  the  laws  of  Maryland  and  the 
United  States,  and  that  I  would  protect  both  myself  and  the  city  of  Annap- 
olis from  any  disorderly  persons  whatsoever.  On  the  morning  following 
my  landing  I  was  informed  that  the  city  of  Annapolis  and  environs  were 
in  danger  from  an  insurrection  of  the  slave  population,  in  defiance  of  the 
laws  of  the  state.  What  was  I  to  do  ?  I  had  promised  to  put  down  a 
white  mob  and  to  preserve  and  enforce  the  laws  against  that.  Ought  I  to 
allow  a  black  one  any  preference  in  a  breach  of  the  laws  ?  I  understood 
that  I  was  armed  against  all  infractions  of  the  laws,  whether  by  white  or 
black,  and  upon  that  understanding  I  acted,  certainly  with  promptness  and 
efficiency.  And  your  excellency's  shadow  of  .olisapprobation,  arising  from 
a  misunderstanding  of  the  facts,  has  caused  all  the  regret  I  have  for  that 
action.  The  question  seemed  to  me  to  be  neither  military  nor  political,  and 
was  not  to  be  so  treated.  It  was  simply  a  question  of  good  faith  and  hon- 
esty of  purpose.  The  benign  effect  of  my  course  was  instantly  seen.  The 
good  but  timid  people  of  Annapolis  who  had  fled  from  their  houses  at  our 
approach,  immediately  returned ;  business  resumed  its  accustomed  chan- 
nels ;  quiet  and  order  prevailed  in  the  city  ;  confidence  took  the  place  of 
distrust,  friendship  of  enmity,  brotherly  kindness  of  sectional  hate,  and  I 
believe  to-day  there  is  no  city  in  the  Union  more  loyal  than  the  city  of 
Annapolis.     I  think,  therefore,  I  may  safely  point  to  the  results  for  my 


AJtfNAFOLIS.  97 

justification.  The  vote  of  the  neighboring  county  of  "Washington,  a  few 
days  since,  for  its  delegate  to  the  legislature,  wherein  4,000  out  of  5,000 
votes  were  thrown  for  a  delegate  favorable  to  the  Union,  is  among  the 
many  happy  fruits  of  firmness  of  purpose,  efficiency  of  action,  and  integrity 
of  mission.  I  believe,  indeed,  that  it  will  not  require  a  personal  inter- 
change of  views,  as  suggested  in  your  dispatch,  to  bring  our  minds  in 
accordance ;  a  simple  statement  of  the  facts  will  suffice. 

But  I  am  to  act  hereafter,  it  may  be,  in  an  enemy's  country,  among  a 
servile  population,  when  the  question  may  arise,  as  it  has  not  yet  arisen,  as 
well  in  a  moral  and  Christian,  as  in  a  political  and  military  point  of  view, 
What  shall  I  do  ?  Will  your  excellency  bear  with  me  a  moment  while  this 
question  is  discussed  ? 

I  appreciate  fully  your  excellency's  suggestion  as  to  the  inherent  weak- 
ness of  the  rebels,  arising  from  the  preponderance  of  their  servile  popula- 
tion. The  question,  then,  is,  In  what  manner  shall  we  take  advantage  of 
that  weakness  ?  By  allowing,  and,  of  course,  arming,  that  population  to 
rise  upon  the  defenseless  women  and  children  of  the  country,  carrying 
rapine,  arson  and  murder — all  the  horrors  of  San  Domingo,  a  million  times 
magnified — among  those  whom  we  hope  to  reunite  with  us  as  brethren, 
many  of  whom  are  already  so,  and  all  who  are  worth  preserving,  will  be, 
when  this  horrible  madness  shall  have  passed  away  or  be  threshed  out  of 
them  ?  Would  your  excellency  advise  the  troops  under  my  command  to 
make  war  in  person  upon  the  defenseless  women  and  children  of  any  part 
of  the  Union,  accompanied  with  brutalities  too  horrible  to  be  named  ?  You 
will  say,  "God  forbid!"  If  we  may  not  do  so  in  person,  shall  we  arm 
others  so  to  do,  over  whom  we  can  have  no  restraint,  exercise  no  control, 
and  who,  when  once  they  have  tasted  blood,  may  turn  the  very  arms  wo 
put  in  their  hands  against  ourselves,  as  a  part  of  the  oppressing  white  race  ? 
The  reading  of  history  so  familiar  to  your  excellency,  will  tell  you  the 
bitterest  cause  of  complaint  which  our  fathers  had  against  Great  Britain  in 
the  war  of  the  Kevolution,  was  the  arming  by  the  British  ministry  of  the 
red  man  with  the  tomahawk  and  the  scalping-knife  against  the  women  and 
children  of  the  colonies,  so  that  the  phrase,  "  May  we  not  use  all  the  means 
which  God  and  nature  have  pnt  in  our  power  to  subjugate  the  colonies?" 
has  passed  into  a  legend^ef  infamy  against  the  leader  of  that  ministry  who 
used  it  in  parliament.  Shall  history  teach  us  in  vain  ?  Could  we  justify 
ourselves  to  ourselves,  although  with  arms  in  our  hands,  amid  the  savage 
wildness  of  camp  and  field,  we  may  have  blunted  many  of  the  finer  moral 
sensibilities,  in  letting  loose  four  millions  of  worse  than  savages  upon  the 
homes  and  hearths  of  the  South?  Can  we  be  justified  to  the  Christiau 
commuuity  of  Massachusetts?  Would  such  a  course  be  consonant  with  the 
teachings  of  our  holy  religion  ?  I  have  a  very  decided  opinion  upon  the 
subject,  and  if  any  one  desires,  as  I  know  your  excellency  does  not,  this 


08 


ANNAPOLIS. 


unhappy  contest  to  be  prosecuted  in  that  manner,  some  instrument  other 
than  myself  must  be  found  to  carry  it  on.  I  may  not  discuss  the  political 
bearings  of  this  topic.  "When  I  went  from  uuder  the  shadow  of  my  roof- 
tree,  I  left  all  politics  behind  me,  to  be  resumed  only  when  every  part  of 
the  Union  is  loyal  to  the  flag,  and  the  potency  of  the  government  through 
the  ballot-box  is  established. 

Passing  the  moral  and  Christian  view,  let  us  examine  the  subject  as  a 
military  question.  Is  not  that  state  already  subjugated  which  requires  the 
bayonets  of  those  armed  in  opposition  to  its  rulers,  to  preserve  it  from  the 
horrors  of  a  servile  war?  As  the  least  experienced  of  military  men,  I 
would  have  no  doubt  of  the  entire  subjugation  of  a  state  brought  to  that 
condition.  When,  therefore — unless  I  am  better  advised — any  community 
in  the  United  States,  who  have  met  me  in  honorable  warfare,  or  even  in 
the  prosecution  of  a  rebellious  war  in  an  honorable  manner,  shall  call  upon 
me  for  protection  against  the  nameless  horrors  of  a  servile  insurrection, 
they  shall  have  it,  and  from  the  moment  that  call  is  obeyed,  I  have  no 
doubt  we  shall  be  friends  and  not  enemies. 

The  possibility  that  dishonorable  means  of  defense  are  to  be  taken  by 
the  rebels  against  the  government,  1  do  not  now  contemplate.  If,  as  has 
been  done  in  a  single  instance,  my  men  are  to  be  attacked  by  poison,  or  as 
in  another,  stricken  down  by  the  assassin's  knife,  and  thus  murdered,  the 
community  using  such  weapons  may  be  required  to  be  taught  that  it  holds 
within  its  own  border  a  more  potent  means  for  deadly  purposes  and  indis- 
criminate slaughter  than  any  which  it  can  administer  to  us. 

Trusting  that  these  views  may  meet  your  excellency's  approval,  I  have 
the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Benj.  F.  Butlee. 


We  all  remember  how  universal  the  expectation  was,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war,  that  the  negroes  would  everywhere  embrace 
the  opportunity  to  rise  upon  their  masters,  and  commit  frightful 
outrages.  That  expectation  grew  out  of  our  general  ignorance  of 
the  character  and  feelings  of  the  southern  negro ;  and  none  of  us 
were  so  ignorant  upon  these  points  as  hunker  democrats.  If  they 
had  some  acquaintance  with  slaveholders,  they  knew  nothing  about 
slavery,  because  they  would  know  nothing.  It  is  a  propensity  of 
the  human  mind,  to  put  away  from  itself  unwelcome  truths. 
American  democrats,  I  repeat,  know  nothing  of  American  slavery. 
It  was  pleasant  and  convenient  for  them  to  think,  that  Mr.  Wen- 
dell Phillips,  Mr.  Garrison,  Mrs.  Stowe,  and  Mr.  Sumner,  were  per- 
sons of  a  fanatical  cast  of  character,  whose  calm  and  very  moderate 


ANNAPOLIS*  99 

exhibitions  of  slavery  were  totally  beneath  consideration— dis- 
torted, exaggerated,  incredible.  It  was  with  the  most  sincere 
astonishment,  that  General  Butler  and  his  hunker  staff  discovered, 
when  they  stood  face  to  face  with  slavery,  and  were  obliged  to  ad- 
minister the  law  of  it,  and  tried  to  do  justice  to  the  black  man  as 
well  as  to  the  white,  that  the  worst  delineations  of  slavery  ever  pre- 
sented to  the  public  fell  far  short  of  the  unimaginable  truth  *  They 
were  ready  to  confess  their  ignorance  of  that  of  which  they  had 
been  hearing  and  reading  all  their  lives,  and  that  this  '  patriarchal 
institution,'  for  which  some  of  them  had  pleaded  or  apologized,  was 
simply  the  most  hellish  thing  that  ever  was  in  this  world. 

Nevertheless,  there  has  never  been  the  slightest  danger  of  an  in- 
surrection of  the  slaves.  The  real  victim  of  slavery  is  the  white 
man,  not  the  black.  Whatever  little  good  there  is  in  the  system, 
the  black  man  has  had ;  while  most  of  the  evil  has  fallen  to  the 
white  man's  share.  Under  slavery,  the  black  man  has  deeply  suf- 
fered and  slowly  improved ;  the  white  man  has  ignobly  enjoyed 
and  rapidly  degenerated.  Three  or  four,  or  five  generations  of  ser- 
vitude have  extirpated  whatever  of  warlike  and  rebellious  energy 
the  negro  may  have  once  possessed ;  and,  of  late  years,  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  in  a  rude  and  tropical  form — much  feeling  and  little 
knowledge — has  exerted  a  still  more  subduing  influence  upon  them. 
Some  more  or  less  correct  version  of  the  story  of  the  Cross  has  be- 
come familiar  to  them  all,  as  well  as  the  sentiments  of  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount.  To  no  people,  of  all  the  suffering  sons  of  men,  has 
that  wondrous  tale  come  home  with  such  power  as  to  these  sad  and 
docile  children  of  Africa.  Are  not  they,  too,  men  of  sorrow  ?  Are 
not  they,  too,  acquainted  with  grief?  Have  not  they,  too,  to  suffer 
and  be  silent? — revenge  impossible,  forgiveness  divinely  com- 
manded ? 

Insurrection !  If  a  Springfield  musket  and  a  Sheffield  bowie- 
knife  were  this  day  placed  in  every  negro  hut  in  the  South,  and 
every  master  gone  to  the  war,  the  negroes  might  use  those  weap- 
ons, but  it  would  be  to  defend,  not  to  molest,  their  masters'  wives 


*  "  On  reading  Mrs.  Stowe's  book,  ■  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,'  I  tbonght  it  to  be  an  overdrawn,  highly- 
wrought  picture  of  southern  life ;  but  I  have  seen  with  my  own  eyes,  and  heard  with  ray  own 
ears,  many  things  which  go  beyond  her  book,  as  much  as  her  book  does  beyond  an  ordinary 
school-girl's  novel."— Speech  of  General  Butter  at  the  Fiftti  Avenue,  Hotel,  Few  York,  on  hi* 
return  from  New  Orleans.  Januay  8, 1S63. 
5 


100  BALTlMOEE. 

and  children.  There  is  many  a  negro  in  the  southern  states  who 
does  actually  stand  in  the  same  hind  of  moral  relation  to  his  mas- 
ter as  that  which  Jesus  Christ  bore  to  the  Jews,  when  he  said, 
"  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  And 
not  moral  relation  only ;  for  the  negro  often  has  a  clear  mental  per- 
ception of  the  fact  stated.  He  sometimes  stands  above  his  master, 
at  a  hight  which  the  master  can  neither  see  nor  believe  in. 


CHAPTER   V. 

BALTIMORE. 


When  war  breaks  out  in  a  country  after  a  long  peace,  it  is  nat- 
ural that  the  people  should  look  for  guidance  first  to  men  who  won 
distinction  in  the  wars  of  the  past.  The  history  of  wars  shows  us 
that  this  is  generally  an  error,  fruitful  of  disaster.  It  gave  us 
Washington,  it  is  true ;  but  Washington  was  but  forty-four  years 
of  age  when  he  left  Philadelphia  to  take  command  of  the  armies  of 
the  revolution;  and  he  had  passed  the  twenty  years  which  had 
elapsed  since  Braddock's  defeat,  not  in  the  routine  of  a  military 
office,  but  in  hunting  the  fox,  and  in  managing  a  great  estate,  which 
involved  the  control  of  some  hundreds  of  human  beings.  The  al- 
most sovereign  lord  of  a  little  principality,  he  spent  half  his  days 
in  the  saddle,  and  was  constantly  engaged  in  pursuits  somewhat 
akin  to  those  of  a  commander  of  armies.  Neither  his  mind  nor  his 
blood  could  stagnate,  roaming  those  extensive  fields  and  forests, 
foreseeing,  calculating,  providing,  governing.  But  the  rule  usually 
holds  good,  that  a  war  develops  its  own  hero ;  the  heroes  of  the 
past  not  proving  adequate  to  the  new  emergency. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  rebellion,  there  was  an  officer  at  the  seat 
of  government  who  had  been  a  general  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States  for  forty-nine  years.  Two  generations  had  been  accustomed 
to  regard  him  as  the  ablest  of  American  soldiers ;  and  for  a  long 
series  of  years,  he  had  been  highest  in  place,  as  well  as  highest  in 
the  confidence  of  the  public.    The  reputation  of  a  living  person  has 


BALTIMOEE.  101 

in  it  a  principle  of  growth.  If  a  man  has  done  something  which  so 
enters  into  the  history  of  his  nation,  that  children  necessarily  be- 
come familiar  with  his  name  at  school,  he  may  sit  still  for  thirty 
years,  and  yet  find  his  reputation  growing ;  until,  by  the  death  of 
cotemporaries,  it  becomes,  perhaps,  unique  and  overshadowing. 
The  haze  of  antiquity  gathers  round  it,  veiling  and  yet  magnifying 
the  basis  of  fact  upon  which  it  rests.  And  if,  perchance,  the  an- 
cient hero,  emerging  from  the  vast,  dim  halo  of  his  name,  presents  him- 
self to  view,  in  his  old  age,  at  the  head  of  a  conquering  army,  thun- 
dering at  the  gates  of  an  enemy's  capital,  vague  reverence  is  chang- 
ed to  conscious  enthusiasm,  and  no  one  doubts  that  here,  indeed,  is 
the  "  first  captain  of  the  age."  When  the  war  began,  therefore,  and 
rumors  of  an  impending  attack  upon  the  capital  alarmed  the  coun- 
try, the  name  of  Winfield  Scott  appeared  sufficient  to  allay  appre- 
hension. It  seemed  of  itself  a  tower  of  strength ;  it  was  a  rallying 
point  for  the  gathering  forces  of  the  country ;  it  gave  assurance  to 
millions  of  minds  that  the  resources  of  the  nation,  so  lavishly  offer- 
ed, would  be  employed  with  intelligence  and  success.  If  there  was 
a  moment  when  some  men  feared  that  the  mania  of  secession 
might  seize  even  him,  the  fear  was  quickly  dispelled,  when  he  was 
seen  renewing  his  oath  of  allegiance,  and  responding  in  unequivocal 
language  to  the  cheers  of  arriving  regiments.  There  he  was,  the 
center  of  attraction,  conspicuous  among  the  conspicuous,  apparently 
rolling  up  the  whirlwind,  and  elaborating  the  storm  that  was  sup- 
posed to  be  about  to  sweep  over  the  rebellious  states  resistless. 

Fatal  delusion ! 

General  Scott  was  seventy-five  years  of  age.  An  old  wound 
partly  disabled  him.  A  recent  accident  had  shaken  him  severely. 
He  could  not  mount  a  horse.  He  could  not  walk  a  mile.  The 
motion  of  a  carriage  soon  fatigued  him.  His  vast  form  was  itself  a 
heavy  burden.  He  required  a  great  deal  of  sleep.  He  moved, 
thought,  and  acted  slowly.  Accustomed  for  fifty  years  to  the  petti- 
est details  of  a  small,  widely  scattered  army,  he  was  now  suddenly 
called  upon  to  organize  many  armies,  and  direct  their  movements 
against  enemies  in  the  field.  A  task  more  difficult  than  ever  Napo- 
leon or  Wellington  performed,  was  laid  upon  a  man  who,  in  his 
best  days,  would  have  been  signally  unequal  to  it ;  for  he  had  not 
been  gifted  by  nature  with  that  genius  for  command  which  alone 
could  have  formed  invincible  armies  out  of  masses  of  loosely  organ- 


102  BALTIMORE. 

ized  men,  having  nothing  that  belongs  to  soldiers  except  arms  and 
a  willingness  to  use  them  for  the  restoration  of  their  country.  He 
was  a  man  of  exact,  formal,  unpliant  mind.  Accustomed  long  to 
the  first  place — accustomed  also  to  that  extravagant  adulation  which 
we  used  to  bestow  upon  conspicuous  persons,  he  was  less  likely  to 
suspect  his  infinite  insufficiency. 

This  was  well  known,  however,  to  every  thinking  man  familiar 
with  Washington.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  familiar  with  Washington. 
He,  too,  had  been  accustomed  to  survey  General  Scott  from  a  great 
distance,  and  he  took  for  granted  the  correctness  of  the  popular 
estimate,  which  pronounced  him  the  first  captain  of  the  age !  Mr. 
Cameron,  the  secretary  of  war,  was  totally  ignorant  of  the  first 
rudiments  of  the  military  art ;  and  he  had,  too,  a  painful  sense  of 
his  ignorance,  which  he  frequently  expressed.  Hence,  the  military 
resources  of  the  country  were  laid,  as  it  were,  humbly  at  the  feet 
of  General  Scott,  for  him  to  use  or  misuse  according  to  his  good 
pleasure. 

Baltimore  was  the  ruling  topic  in  those  days.  Baltimore,  still 
severed  from  all  its  railroad  connections  with  the  North,  and  still 
under  control  of  the  secession  minority.  One  of  the  last  reporters 
who  made  his  way  through  the  city,  two  or  three  days  after  the  at- 
tack of  the  mob  upon  the  Sixth  Massachusetts,  gave  a  striking 
narrative  of  his  adventures,  which  kept  alive  the  impression  that 
Baltimore  had  gone  over,  as  one  man,  to  the  side  of  the  rebels,  and 
meant  to  resist  to  the  death  the  passage  of  Union  troops. 

"  In  the  streets,"  he  wrote,  "  of  the  lower  part  of  the  city,  there 
were  immense  crowds,  warm  discussions,  and  the  high  pitch  of  ex- 
citement which  discussion  engenders.  The  mob — for  Baltimore 
street  was  one  vast  mob — was  surging  to  and  fro,  uncertain  in  what 
way  to  move,  and  apparently  without  any  special  purpose.  Many 
had  small  secession  cards  pinned  on  their  coat  collars,  and  not  a  few 
were  armed  with  guns,  pistols  and  knives,  of  which  they  made  the 
most  display. 

"  I  found  the  greatest  crowd  surging  around  the  telegraph  office, 
waiting  anxiously,  of  course,  for  news.  The  most  inquiry  was  as  to 
the  whereabouts  of  the  New  York  troops — the  most  frequent  topic, 
the  probable  results  of  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Seventh  regi 
ment  to  force  a  passage  through  Baltimore.  All  agreed  that  the 
force  could  never  go  through — all  agreed  that  it  would  make  the 


BALTI3I0EE.  103 

attempt  if  ordered  to  do  so,  and  none  seemed  to  entertain  a  doubt 
that  it  would  leave  a  winrow  of  the  dead  bodies  of  those  who  as- 
sailed it  in  the  streets  through  which  it  might  attempt  to  pass. 

"  I  found  the  police  force  entirely  in  sympathy  with  the  seces- 
sionists and  indisposed  to  act  against  the  mob.  Marshal  Kane  and 
the  commissioners  do  not  make  any  concealment  of  their  proclivi- 
ties for  the  Southern  Confederacy.  Mayor  Brown,  upon  whom  I 
called,  seemed  to  be  disposed  to  do  his  duty — providing  he  knew 
what  it  was,  and  could  do  it  safely.  He  was  in  a  high  state  of  ex- 
sitement  when  I  mentioned  my  name  and  purpose.  He  manifested 
a  disposition  to  be  civil,  and  to  give  me  information,  but  was  evi- 
dently afraid  that  I  was  a  Northern  aggressor,  with  whom  it  was 
indiscreet  for  him  to  be  in  too  close  communication.  Seeing  his 
condition,  I  left  him  and  went  out  in  the  crowd  to  gather  public 
opinion  again." 

Wild  rumors  were  afloat.  "  At  one  time  government  had  backed 
down — then  it  was  going  ahead ;  Virginia  was  coming — Virginia 
was  not  coming.  The  New  Yorkers,  Pennsylvanians,  the  Massachu- 
setts men  and  the  Rhode  Islanders,  were  at  one  time  marching  one 
hundred  abreast  over  the  state,  looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  the 
left — at  another,  no  '  d — d  Yankee'  would  dare  thus  to  pollute  the 
sacred  soil  of  Maryland.  One  told  that  Fort  McHenry  had  been 
blown  up,  another  that  it  was  going  to  c  shell'  the  city,  a  third  that 
it  was  only  garrisoned  by  a  handful,  while  a  fourth  was  positive 
that  at  least  a  force  double  the  full  war  allotment  was  within  its 
walls.  There  was  some  talk  that  the  fort  would  be  attacked, 
but  the  opinion  that  there  was  a  full  garrison,  having  generally 
obtained,  the  attacking  part  of  the  programme  was  postponed. 
Though  large  crowds  remained  in  the  streets  until  morning,  no 
unusual  events  transpired.  Curiosity  to  see  what  was  going  on  ap- 
peared to  be  the  prevailing  motive  with  those  who  were  tramping 
about.  *  *  * 

"About  eight  o'clock  the  next  morning,  the  streets  began 
again  to  be  crowded.  The  bar-rooms  and  public  resorts  were 
closed,  so  that  the  incentive  to  precipitate  action  might  not  be  too 
readily  accessible.  Nevertheless,  there  was  much  excitement,  and 
among  the  crowds  this  morning,  there  were  many  men  from  the 
country,  who  carried  shot  and  duck  guns,  and  old-fashioned  horse- 
pistols,  such  as  the  '  Maryland'  line  might  have  carried  from  the 


104  BALTIMORE. 

first  to  the  present  war.  The  best  weapons  appeared  to  be  in  the 
hands  of  young  men — boys  of  eighteen,  with  the  physique  and  dress 
and  style  of  deportment,  cultivated  by  the  'Hook  Boys'  and 
4  Dead  Rabbits'  of  New  York,  as  villainous  looking  compounds 
of  reckless  rascality  as  were  ever  produced  in  any  community. 

"About  ten  o'clock,  a  cry  was  raised  that  3,000  Pennsylva- 
nia troops  were  at  the  Calvert  street  depot  of  the  Pennsylvania 
railroad,  and  were  about  to  take  up  their  line  of  march  through  the 
city.  With  a  portion  of  the  crowd,  I  made  my  way  to  the  depot 
to  find  it  by  far  the  most  quiet  place  in  the  city.  There  it  was  said 
that  the  3,000  were  at  Pikesville,  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  city, 
and  were  going  to  fight  their  way  around  the  city.  The  crowd  did 
not  seem  disposed  to  interfere  with  a  movement  that  required  a 
preliminary  tramp  of  fifteen  miles  through  a  heavy  sand.  But  the 
city  authorities,  however,  rapidly  organized  and  armed  some  three 
or  four  companies  and  sent  them  toward  Pikesville.  Ten  of  the 
Adams  express  wagons  passed  up  Baltimore,  loaded  with  armed 
men.  In  one  or  two  there  were  a  number  of  mattresses,  as  if 
wounded  men  were  anticipated.  A  company  of  cavalry  also  started 
for  Pikesville,  I  supposed  to  sustain  the  infantry  that  had  been  ex- 
pressed. 

"  All  through  the  day,  the  accessions  from  the  country  were  com- 
ing in.  Sometimes  a  squad  of  infantry,  sometimes  a  troop  of  horse, 
and  once  a  small  park  of  artillery.  It  was  nothing  extraordinary  to 
see  a  '  solitary  horseman'  riding  in  from  the  counties,  with  shot- 
gun, powder-horn  and  flask.  Some  came  with  provender  lashed  to 
the  saddle,  prepared  to  picket  out  for  the  night.  Boys  came  witli 
their  fathers,  accoutered  apparently  with  the  war  sword  and  holster- 
pistols  that  had  done  service  a  century  ago.  There  were  strange 
contrasts  between  the  stern,  solemn  bearing  of  the  father,  and  the 
buoyant,  excited,  enthusiastic  expressions  of  the  boy's  face.  I  had 
frequent  talks  with  these  people,  and  could  not  but  be  impressed 
with  their  devotion  and  patriotism ;  for,  mistaken  as  they  were, 
they  were  none  the  less  actuated  by  the  most  unselfish  spirit  of 
loyalty.  They  hardly  knew,  any  of  them,  for  what  they  had  so  sud- 
denly come  to  Baltimore.  They  had  a  vague  idea  only,  that  Mary- 
land had  been  invaded,  and  that  it  was  the  solemn  duty  of  her  sons 
to  protect  their  soil  from  the  encroachments  of  an  invading  force."* 

*  Jf.  T.  Daily  Times,  April  24th,  1861. 


BALTIMORE.  105 

Upon  reading  such  letters  as  this,  a  great  cry  arose  in  the  North, 
for  the  re-opening  of  the  path  to  Washington  through  Baltimore, 
even  if  it  should  involve  the  destruction  of  the  rebellious  city.  The 
proceedings  of  General  Butler  at  Annapolis,  and  the  departure  from 
Baltimore  of  the  leading  spirits  of  the  mob  to  join  the  rebel  army 
in  Virginia,  quieted  the  city,  and  gave  the  Union  men  some  chance 
to  make  their  influence  felt.  But  this  change  was  not  immediately 
understood  at  Washington,  and  General  Scott  was  meditating  a 
great  strategic  scheme  for  the  conquest  of  the  city. 

His  plan,  as  officially  communicated  on  the  29th  of  April,  to 
General  Butler,  General  Patterson,  and  others  who  were  to  co- 
operate, were  as  follows :  "  I  suppose,"  wrote  the  lieutenant-gen- 
eral, "  that  a  column  from  this  place  (Washington)  of  three  thou- 
sand men,  another  from  York  of  three  thousand  men,  a  third  from 
Perryville,  or  Elkton,  by  land  or  water,  or  both,  of  three  thousand 
men,  and  a  fourth  from  Annapolis,  by  water,  of  three  thousand  men, 
might  suffice.  But  it  may  be,  and  many  persons  think  it  probable^ 
that  Baltimore,  before  we  can  get  ready,  will  re-open  the  communi- 
cation through  that  city,  and  beyond,  each  way,  for  troops,  army 
supplies,  and  travelers,  voluntarily.  When  can  we  be  ready  for 
the  movement  on  Baltimore  on  this  side  ?  Colonel  Mansfield  has 
satisfied  me  that  we  want,  at  least,  ten  thousand  additional  troops 
here  to  give  security  to  the  capital;  and,  as  yet,  we  have  less  than 
ten  thousand,  including  some  very  indifferent  militia  from  the  dis- 
trict. With  that  addition,  we  will  be  able,  I  think,  to  make  the 
detachment  for  Baltimore." 

A  day  or  two  after  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  General  Butler  went 
to  Washington  to  confer  with  the  general-in-chief.  He  conversed 
with  him  fully  upon  the  state  of  affairs.  One  suggestion  offered  on 
this  occasion,  by  General  Butler,  has  peculiar  interest  in  view  of 
subsequent  events.  He  was  of  opinion,  with  Shakspeare,  that  the 
place  to  fight  the  wolf  is  not  at  your  own  front  door,  but  nearer  its 
own  den.  Manassas  Junction  he  suggested,  not  Arlington  Heights, 
was  the  place  where  Washington  should  first  be  defended ;  and  he 
offered  to  march  thither  with  two  thousand  men,  destroy  the  rail- 
road connections  with  the  South,  and  fortify  the  position.  As  there 
were  then  no  rebel  troops  at  the  Junction,  this  could  have  been 
done  without  loss  or  delay.  General  Scott  negatived  the  proposal. 
The  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  have  since  character- 


106  BALTIMORE. 

ized  the  omission  to  seize  Manassas  Junction  at  this  time,  as  "  the 
great  error  of  that  campaign."  "  The  position  at  Manassas,"  add 
the  Committee,  "  controlled  the  railroad  communication  in  all  that 
section  of  country.  The  forces  which  were  opposed  to  us  at  the 
battle  of  Bull  Run  were  mostly  collected  and  brought  to  Manassas 
during  the  months  of  June  and  July.  The  three  months'  men  could 
have  made  the  place  easily  defensible  against  any  force  the  enemy 
could  have  brought  against  it ;  and  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that 
the  rebel  forces  would  have  advanced  beyond  the  line  of  the  Rap- 
pahannock had  Manassas  been  occupied  by  our  troops." 

General  Butler  strongly  urged  his  scheme  of  seizing  Manassas, 
both  in  conversation  and  in  writing,  to  various  influential  persons. 
General  Scott's  veto  was  decisive. 

The  reduction  of  Baltimore  was,  however,  the  chief  topic  of  dis- 
cussion between  General  Butler  and  the  commander-in-chief. 
General  Scott  was  still  of  opinion  that  some  time  must  elapse  be- 
fore troops  could  be  spared  for  the  attempt ;  but  he  consented  to 
General  Butler's  taking  a  regiment  or  two,  and  holding  the  Relay 
House,  a  station  nine  miles  from  Baltimore.  Before  leaving  on 
this  expedition,  he  asked  General  Scott  what  were  the  powers  of  a 
general  commanding  a  department.  The  reply  was,  that,  except 
as  limited  by  specific  orders  and  by  military  law,  his  powers  were 
absolute ;  he  could  do  whatever  he  thought  best.  Upon  receiving 
this  information,  General  Butler  privately  consulted  an  officer  of 
engineers,  who  ascertained  for  him,  by  reference  to  authoritative 
maps,  that  the  city  of  Baltimore  was  within  the  Department  of 
Annapolis,  as  defined  in  the  order  creating  it. 

Saturday  afternoon,  May  4th,  the  Eighth  New  York,  the  Sixth 
Massachusetts,  and  Cook's  battery  of  artillery  received  the  wel- 
come order  to  be  ready  to  march  by  two  o'clock  the  next  morning. 
General  Butler  had  given  a  solemn  promise  to  the  Sixth,  his  own 
home  regiment,  which  he  had  joined  before  his  beard  was  grown, 
that  they  should,  one  day,  if  his  advice  was  taken,  march  again 
through  Baltimore.  His  selection  of  the  regiment  on  this  occasion 
was  the  beginning  of  the  fulfillment  of  that  promise.  At  daylight 
on  Sunday  morning,  a  train  of  thirty  cars  glided  from  the  depot  at 
Washington ;  from  which,  two  hours  later,  the  regiments  issued  at 
the  Relay  House,  where  they  seized  the  depot  and  swarmed  over 
the  adjoining  hills,  reconnoitering. 


BALTIMORE.  107 

No  enemy  was  discovered ;  there  was  no  formidable  enemy  at 
that  time  any  where  near  Washington,  and  there  had  not  been  ; 
but  every  man  they  met  had  something  terrible  to  tell  them  of 
rebel  dragoons  hovering  near.  Cannons  were  planted  on  the 
heights.  Camps  were  formed,  and  scouting  parties  sent  out. 
Officers  were  detailed  to  go  through  all  passing  trains  and  seize 
articles  contraband  of  war — such  as  weapons,  powder,  and  intrench- 
ing tools.  The  general  wrote  to  Washington  to  know  if  he  might 
not  arrest  certain  prominent  traitors  who  lived  near — members  of 
the  Carroll  family  and  others.  He  concluded  his  first  dispatch  with 
these  words :  "  I  find  the  people  here  exceedingly  friendly,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  that  with  my  present  force  I  could  march  through 
Baltimore.  I  am  the  more  convinced  of  this  because  I  learn  that, 
for  several  days,  many  of  the  armed  secessionists  have  left  for  Har- 
per's Ferry,  or  have  gone  forth  plundering  the  country.  I  trust  my 
acts  will  meet  your  approbation,  whatever  you  may  think  of  my 
suggestions." 

General  Butler  remained  a  week  at  the  Relay  House.  Large 
numbers  of  friendly  people  from  Baltimore  drove  out  to  his  camp, 
and,  with  them,  some  who  were  not  friendly.  He  became  perfectly 
well  informed  of  the  condition  of  the  city.  General  Scott  wrote 
approvingly  of  his  acts,  and  authorized  him  to  use  his  discretion  in 
arresting  the  disanected,  and  in  seizing  contraband  articles.  He 
also  informed  him  that  he  need  not  remain  at  the  Relay  House 
"  longer  than  he  deemed  his  presence  there  of  importance."  He  did 
not. 

Incidents  occurred  in  camp  at  the  Relay  House,  which  created, 
at  the  time,  a  general  sensation.  A  man  from  Baltimore,  lounging 
about  among  the  New  York  soldiers,  said  to  some  of  them,  that 
the  Baltimore  mob  was  right  in  attacking  the  Massachusetts  regi- 
ment, and  would  give  them  a  still  warmer  reception  on  their  return. 
Two  oificers  at  once  arrested  the  man.  In  general  orders  of  the 
next  morning,  General  Butler  thanked  the  officers  for  doing  so, 
and  consigned  the  culprit  to  prison  at  Annapolis.  In  the  same 
order,  the  general  alluded  to  other  events  in  a  characteristic 
manner. 

"Two  incidents  of  the  gravest  character  marked  the  progress 
of  yesterday.  Charles  Leonard,  private,  Company  G,  Eighth 
regiment  of  New  York,  was  accidentally  killed  instantaneously  by 


108  BALTIMORE. 

the  discharge  of  a  musket  from  which  he  was  drawing  the  charge. 
He  was  buried  with  all  the  honors,  amidst  the  gloom  and  sorrow 
■of  every  United  States  soldier  at  this  post,  and  the  tender  sym- 
pathies of  many  of  the  loyal  inhabitants  in  our  neighborhood.  *  *  * 
The  first  offering  of  New  York  of  the  life  of  one  of  her  sons  upon 
the  country's  altar,  his  blood  mingling  on  the  soil  of  Maryland  with 
that  of  the  Massachusetts  men  murdered  at  Baltimore,  will  form  a 
new  bond  of  union  between  us  and  all  loyal  states,  so  that  without 
need  of  further  incentive  to  our  duty,  we  are  spurred  on  by  the 
example  of  the  life  and  death  of  Leonard. 

"  The  other  matter  to  which  the  general  desires  to  call  the  atten- 
tion of  the  troops  is  this :  Wishing  to  establish  the  most  friendly 
relations  between  you  and  this  neighborhood,  the  general  invited 
all  venders  of  supplies  to  visit  our  camp,  and  replenish  our  some- 
what scanty  commissariat.  But,  to  his  disgust  and  horror,  he  finds 
well-authenticated  evidence  that  a  private  in  the  Sixth  regiment 
has  been  poisoned,  by  means  of  strychnine  administered  in  the  food 
brought  into  the  camp  by  one  of  these  peddlers.  I  am  happy  to  be 
informed  that  the  man  is  now  out  of  danger.  This  act  will,  of 
course,  render  it  necessary  for  me  to  cut  off  all  purchases  from 
unauthorized  persons. 

"  Are  our  few  insane  enemies  among  the  loyal  men  of  Maryland 
prepared  to  wage  war  upon  us  in  this  manner  ?  Do  they  know 
the  terrible  lesson  of  warfare  they  are  teaching  us  ?  Can  it  be  that 
they  realize  the  fact,  that  we  can  put  an  agent,  with  a  word,  into 
every  household,  armed  with  this  terrible  weapon  ?  In  view  of  the 
terrible  consequences  of  this  mode  of  warfare,  if  accepted  by  us 
from  their  teaching,  with  every  sentiment  of  devotional  prayer, 
may  we  not  exclaim,  '  Father,  forgive  them ;  they  know  not  what 
they  do !'  Certain  it  is,  that  any  such  other  attempt,  reasonably 
authenticated  as  to  the  persons  committing  it,  will  be  followed  by 
the  swiftest,  surest,  and  most  condign  punishment." 

Such  events  as  this  could  not  but  confirm  the  impression  upon 
the  minds  of  the  troops,  that  they  were  posted  in  an  enemy's  coun- 
try. The  vigilance  of  some  of  the  officers  was  carried  to  a  trouble- 
some extreme.  One  rainy  night,  the  whole  body  of  the  troops, 
seventeen  hundred  in  number,  were  called  to  arms  four  times  by 
false  alarms.  On  the  last  occasion,  the  general  in  command  ad- 
dressed a  peculiar  reproof  to  the  officer  whose  inexperience  had 


BALTIMORE.  109 

given  the  troops  so  many  needless  drenchings.  This  gentleman 
being  a  tailor  by  trade,  the  general  roared  out : 

"  In  God's  name,  Colonel ,  where  are  the  other  eight  ?" 

General  Butler  managed  the  case  of  this  over-zealous,  but  wo- 
fully  ignorant  officer  with  good-natured  tact.  He  opened  a  way 
for  his  quiet  transfer  to  a  clerkship  in  a  custom-house,  where  he 
served  his  country  well. 

On  the  13th  of  May,  General  Butler  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  his  presence  at  the  Relay  House  was  no  longer  necessary. 
Early  in  the  morning,  he  telegraphed  to  General  Scott,  among 
other  things,  that  Baltimore  was  in  the  department  of  Annapolis. 
An  answer  came  back  from  Colonel  Schuyler  Hamilton,  then  on  the 
staff  of  the  lieutenant-general,  which  certainly  could  not  be  con- 
strued as  forbidding  the  movement  contemplated. 

"  General  Scott  desires  me  to  invite  your  attention  to  certain  guilty 
parties  in  Baltimore,  namely,  those  connected  with  the  guns  and 
military  cloths  seized  by  your  troops  (at  the  Relay  House),  as  well 
as  the  baker  who  furnished  supplies  of  bread  for  Harper's  Feny. 
It  is  probable  that  you  will  find  them,  on  inquiry,  proper  subjects 
for  seizure  and  examination.  He  acknowledges  your  telegram  of 
this  morning,  and  is  happy  to  find  that  Baltimore  is  within  your 
department." 

Later  in  the  day,  arrived  a  second  dispatch  from  Colonel  Hamil- 
ton:— 

"  General  Scott  desires  me  to  inform  you  that  he  has  received  in- 
formation, believed  to  be  reliable,  that  several  tons  of  gunpowder, 
designed  for  those  unlawfully  combined  against  the  government, 
are  stored  in  a  church  in  Baltimore,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cal- 
houn street,  between  Baltimore  and  Fayette  streets.  He  invites 
your  attention  to  the  subject." 

It  is  said  that  General  Scott,  who  required  much  sleep,  and  who 
was  oppressed  with  a  multiplicity  of  business,  did  not  always  scru- 
tinize very  closely  the  dispatches  sent  in  his  name,  when  they  were 
supposed  to  relate  to  matters  of  mere  detail.  It  may  be  that  the 
meaning  and  tendency  of  these  dispatches  escaped  his  attention. 
Colonel  Hamilton,  who  had  enjoyed  the  opportunity  at  Annapolis 
of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  quality  of  the  Massachusetts 
brigadier,  was,  certainly,  not  inclined  to  place  any  obstacles  in  his 
way. 


110  BALTIMORE. 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  May  13th,  the  rebel  spies  at 
the  Relay  House  felt  sure,  that  at  length,  they  were  about  to  have 
something  important  to  communicate  to  their  employers  at  Balti- 
more. Two  trains  of  cars  stood  upon  the  track,  both  headed 
toward  Harper's  Ferry,  both  loaded  with  troops.  One  was  a  short 
train,  with  a  force  of  fifty  men  on  board.  The  other  was  of  im~ 
mense  length.  It  contained  the  whole  of  the  Sixth  Massachusetts, 
some  companies  of  the  New  York  Eighth,  and  two  pieces  of  artil- 
lery, in  all  nine  hundred  men.  The  general's  white  horse,  horses 
for  the  staff  and  artillery  were  on  the  train.  When  everything  was 
in  readiness,  word  was  brought  to  the  general  that  two  fast  Balti- 
more trotters  were  harnessed  in  a  stable  near  by,  which  were  to 
convey  the  tidings  of  the  movement  to  Baltimore  the  moment  the 
trains  had  started. 

"  Let  them  go,"  said  the  general. 

The  two  trains  moved  slowly  toward  Harper's  Ferry.  The  fast 
nags,  at  the  same  moment,  were  put  on  the  road  to  Baltimore. 
General  Butler  secretly  resolved  to  give  them  plenty  of  time  to 
reach  the  city.  Except  himself  and  a  few  members  of  his  staff, 
every  man  in  the  train  was  ignorant  of  his  real  design. 

Two  miles  from  the  Relay  House,  both  trains  halted  a  while. 
Then  the  smaller  train  Vept  on  'ts  way.  It  was  bound  to  Fred- 
erick, where  the  troops  were  ordered  to  seize  the  millionaire, 
Ross  Winans,  and  the  machine  then  figuring  ominously  in  the 
newspapers,  or  Winans' s  steam  gun ;  a  useless  rattle-trap,  as  it 
proved.  Winans  was  a  thorough-going  traitor,  and  one  who,  from 
his  prodigious  wealth  (fifteen  millions,  it  was  thought),  could  give 
his  fellow  traitors  abundant  aid  and  very  solid  comfort.  Already, 
he  had  manufactured  five  thousand  pikes  for  the  use  of  the  Balti- 
more mob  against  the  forces  summoned  by  his  country  to  defend  its 
capital.  An  arch-traitor,  and  an  old ;  gray  hairs  did  what  they 
could  to  "  make  his  folly  venerable."  If  ever  treason  was  com- 
mitted, he  had  committed  it ;  for  he  had  not  even  the  empty  excuse 
of  the  passage  of  an  ordinance  of  secession  by  the  legislature  of  his 
state.  General  Butler  will  interpret  his  orders  with  exact  literal- 
ness,  if  this  hoary-headed  traitor  falls  into  his  hands,  while  he  remains 
in  command  of  the  department  of  Annapolis,  including  the  city  of 
Baltimore. 

About  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  long  train,  with  its  nine 


BALTIMORE.  Ill 

hundred  uien,  the  artillery  and  the  horses,  backed  slowly  past  the 
Relay  House  again,  and  continued  backing  until  it  reached  the 
depot  at  Baltimore. 

A  thunder-storm  of  singular  character,  extraordinary  both  for  its 
violence  and  its  extent,  hung  over  the  city,  black  as  midnight.  It 
was  nearly  dark  when  the  train  arrived.  No  rain  had  yet  fallen ; 
but  the  whole  city  was  soon  enveloped  in  rushing  clouds  of  dust. 
Flashes  of  lightning,  vivid,  incessant — peals  of  thunder,  loud  and 
continuous,  gave  warning  of  the  coming  deluge.  The  depot  was 
nearly  deserted,  and  scarcely  any  one  was  in  the  streets.  By  the 
time  the  troops  were  formed,  it  had  become  dark,  except  when  the 
flashes  of  lightning  illumined  the  scene,  as  if  with  a  thousand 
Drummond  lamps.  This  continuous  change,  from  a  blinding  glare 
of  light  to  darkness  the  most  complete,  was  so  bewildering,  that  if 
the  general  had  not  had  a  guide  familiar  with  the  city,  he  could 
scarcely  have  advanced  from  the  depot.  This  guide  was  Mr.  Robert 
Hare,  of  Philadelphia,  son  of  the  celebrated  chemist,  who,  after 
rendering  valuable  services  to  the  general  elsewhere,  had  joined  him 
at  the  Relay  House,  and  now  volunteered  to  pilot  him  to  Federal 
Hill. 

The  word  was  given,  and  the  troops  silently  emerged  from  the 
depot ;  the  general,  Mr.  Hare,  and  the  staff  in  the  advance.  The 
orders  were,  for  no  man  to  speak  a  needless  word ;  no  drums  to 
beat ;  and  if  a  shot  was  fired  from  a  house,  halt,  arrest  every  in- 
mate, and  destroy  the  house,  leaving  not  one  brick  upon  another. 

When  the  line  had  cleared  the  depot,  the  storm  burst.  Such  tor- 
rents of  rain !  Such  a  ceaseless  blaze  of  lightning !  Such  crashes 
and  volleys  of  thunder !  At  one  moment  the  long  line  of  bayonets, 
the  ranks  of  firm  white  faces,  the  burnished  cannon,  the  horses  and 
their  riders,  the  signs  upon  the  houses,  and  every  minutest  object, 
would  flash  out  of  the  gloom  with  a  distinctness  inconceivable. 
The  next,  a  pall  of  blackest  darkness  would  drop  upon  the  scene. 
Not  a  countenance  appeared  in  any  window ;  for,  so  incessant  was 
the  thunder,  that  the  tramp  of  horses,  the  tread  of  the  men,  the 
rumble  of  the  cannon,  were  not  heard ;  or  if  heard  for  a  moment, 
not  distinguished  from  the  multitudinous  noises  of  the  storm.  As 
the  general  and  his  staff  gained  the  summit  of  Federal  Hill,  which 
rises  abruptly  from  the  midst  of  the  town,  and  turned  to  look  back 
upon  the  troops  winding  up  the  steep  ascent,  a  flash  of  unequaled 


112  BALTIMORE. 

brilliancy  gave  such  startling  splendor  to  the  scene,  that  an  exclam- 
ation of  wonder  and  delight  broke  from  every  lip.  The  troops 
were  formed  upon  the  summit,  the  cannon  were  planted,  and  Balti- 
more was  their  own. 

Except  a  shanty  or  two,  used  in  peaceful  times  as  a  lager-beer 
garden,  there  was  no  shelter  on  the  hill.  The  men  had  to  stand 
still  in  the  pouring  rain,  with  what  patience  they  could.  When 
the  storm  abated,  scouts  were  sent  out,  who  ferreted  out  a  wood- 
yard,  from  which  thirty  cords  of  wood  were  brought ;  and  soon 
the  top  of  the  hill  presented  a  cheerful  scene  and  picturesque ;  arms 
stacked  and  groups  of  steaming  soldiers  standing  around  fifty  blaz- 
ing fires,  each  man  revolving  irregularly  on  his  axis,  trying  to  get 
himself  and  his  blanket  dry. 

General  Butler  established  his  head-quarters  in  the  German  shan- 
ty. An  officer,  who  had  been  scouting,  came  to  him  there  in  con- 
siderable excitement,  and  said : 

"  I  am  informed,  general,  that  this  hill  is  mined,  and  that  we  are 
all  to  be  blown  up." 

"  Get  a  lantern,"  replied  the  general,  "  and  you  and  I  will  walk 
round  the  base  of  the  hill,  and  see." 

They  found,  indeed,  deep  cavities  in  the  side  of  the  hill,  but  these 
proved  to  be  places  whence  sand  had  been  dug  for  building.  After 
a  thorough  examination,  the  general  said : 

"  I  don't  think  we  shall  be  blown  up  ;  but  if  we  are,  there  is  one 
comfort,  it  will  dry  us  all." 

Returning  to  his  shanty,  General  Butler,  still  as  wet  as  water 
could  make  him,  set  about  preparing  his  proclamation. 

At  half-past  eight  in  the  morning,  he  received  a  note  from  the 
mayor,  which  showed  how  completely  his  movements  had  been  con- 
cealed by  the  storm.  The  note  had  been  written  during  the  pre- 
vious evening. 

"  I  have  just  been  informed,"  wrote  the  mayor,  "  that  you  have 
arrived  at  the  Camden  Station  with  a  large  body  of  troops  under 
your  command.  As  the  sudden  arrival  of  a  force  will  create  much 
surprise  in  the  community,  I  beg  to  be  informed  whether  you  pro- 
pose that  it  shall  remain  at  the  Camden  Station,  so  that  the  police 
may  be  notified,  and  proper  precautions  may  be  taken  to  prevent 
any  disturbance  of  the  peace." 

The  mayor  had  not  long  to  wait  for  information.     An  extra  Clip 


BALTIMORE.  113 

per  of  the  morning,  containing  General  Butler's  proclamation, 
advised  all  Baltimore  of  his  intentions.  That  document  read  as 
follows : 

"PROCLAMATION. 

"Department  of  Annapolis, 
"Fedekal  Hill,  Baltimore,  May  14,  1861. 

"  A  detachment  of  the  forces  of  the  Federal  government,  under  my  com- 
mand, have  occupied  the  citv  of  Baltimore  for  the  purpose,  among  other 
things,  of  enforcing  respect  and  obedience  to  the  laws,  as  well  of  the  state, 
if  requested  thereto  by  the  civil  authorities,  as  of  the  United  States  laws, 
which  are  being  violated  within  its  limits  by  some  malignant  and  traitorous 
men ;  and  in  order  to  testify  the  acceptance  by  the  Federal  government, 
of  the  fact  that  the  city  and  all  the  well-intentioned  portion  of  its  inhabi- 
tants are  loyal  to  the  Union  and  the  Constitution,  and  are  to  be  so  regarded 
and  treated  by  all.  To  the  end,  therefore,  that  all  misunderstanding  of  the 
purpose  of  the  government  may  be  prevented,  and  to  set  at  rest  all  un- 
founded, false,  and  seditious  rumors ;  to  relieve  all  apprehensions,  if  any  are 
felt,  by  the  well-disposed  portion  of  the  community,  and  to  make  it  thor- 
oughly understood  by  all  traitors,  their  aiders  and  abettors,  that  rebellious 
acts  must  cease ;  I  hereby,  by  the  authority  vested  in  me,  as  commander 
of  the  department  of  Annapolis,  of  which  Baltimore  forms  a  part,  do  now 
command  and  make  known  that  no  loyal  and  well-disposed  citizen  will  be 
disturbed  in  his  lawful  occupation  or  business ;  that  private  property  will 
not  be  interfered  with  by  the  men  under  my  command,  or  allowed  to  be  in- 
terfered with  by  others,  except  in  so  far  as  it  may  be  used  to  afford  aid  and 
comfort  to  those  in  rebellion  against  the  government  whether  here  or  else- 
where, all  of  which  property,  munitions  of  war,  and  that  fitted  to  aid  and 
support  the  rebellion,  will  be  seized  and  held  subject  to  confiscation,  and, 
therefore,  all  manufacturers  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war  are  hereby  re- 
quested to  report  to  me  forthwith,  so  that  the  lawfulness  of  their  occupation 
may  be  known  and  understood,  and  all  misconstruction  of  their  doings  may 
be  avoided.  No  transportation  from  the  city  to  the  rebels  of  articles  fitted 
to  aid  and  support  troops  in  the  field  will  be  permitted ;  and  the  fact  of  such 
transportation,  after  the  publication  of  this  proclamation,  will  be  taken  and 
received  as  proof  of  illegal  intention  on  the  part  of  the  consignors,  and  will 
render  the  goods  liable  to  seizure  and  confiscation. 

"  The  government  being  now  ready  to  receive  all  such  stores  and  supplies, 
arrangements  will  be  made  to  contract  for  them  immediately  to  the  owners; 
and  manufacturers  of  such  articles  of  equipment  and  clothing,  and  munitions 
of  war  and  provisions,  are  desired  to  keep  themselves  in  communication 
with  the  commissary-general,  in  order  that  their  workshops  may  be  em- 


1 14  BALTIMORE. 

ployed  for  loyal  purposes,  and  the  artisans  of  the  city  resume  and  carry  on 
their  profitable  occupations. 

"  The  acting  assistant-quartermaster  and  commissary  of  subsistence  of 
the  United  States  here  stationed,  has  been  instructed  to  proceed  and  fur- 
nish, at  fair  prices,  40,000  rations  for  the  use  of  the  army  of  the  United 
States ;  and  further  supplies  will  be  drawn  from  the  city  to  the  full  ex- 
tent of  its  capacity,  if  the  patriotic  and  loyal  men  choose  so  to  furnish  sup- 
plies. 

"  All  assemblages,  except  the  ordinary  police,  of  armed  bodies  of  men, 
other  than  those  regularly  organized  and  commissioned  by  the  state  of  Mary- 
land, and  acting  under  the  orders  of  the  governor  thereof,  for  drill  and 
other  purposes,  are  forbidden  within  the  department. 

"All  officers  of  the  militia  of  Maryland,  having  command  within  the  lim- 
its of  the  department,  are  requested  to  report  through  their  officers  forth- 
with to  the  general  in  command,  so  that  he  may  be  able  to  know  and  dis- 
tinguish the  regularly  commissioned  and  loyal  troops  of  Maryland,  from 
armed  bodies  who  may  claim  to  be  such. 

"  The  ordinary  operations  of  the  corporate  government  of  the  city  of 
Baltimore,  and  of  the  civil  authorities,  will  not  be  interfered  with ;  but  on 
the  contrary,  will  be  aided  by  all  the  power  of  the  commanding  general, 
upon  proper  call  being  made  ;  and  all  such  authorities  are  cordially  invited 
to  co-operate  with  the  general  in  command,  to  carry  out  the  purposes  set 
forth  in  the  proclamation,  so  that  the  city  of  Baltimore  may  be  shown  to 
the  country  to  be  what  she  is  in  fact,  patriotic  and  loyal  to  the  Union,  the 
Constitution,  and  the  laws. 

"JSTo  flag,  banner,  ensign  or  device  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States,  or 
any  of  them,  will  be  permitted  to  be  raised  or  shown  in  this  department ; 
and  the  exhibition  of  either  of  them  by  evil  disposed  persons  will  be  deem- 
ed, and  taken  to  be,  evidence  of  a  design  to  afford  aid  and  comfort  to  the 
enemies  of  the  country.  To  make  it  the  more  apparent  that  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  far  more  relies  upon  the  loyalty,  patriotism, 
and  zeal  of  the  good  citizens  of  Baltimore  and  vicinity,  than  upon  any  exhi- 
bition of  force  calculated  to  intimidate  them  into  that  obedience  to  the  laws 
which  the  government  doubts  not  will  be  paid  from  inherent  respect 
and  love  of  order,  the  commanding  general  has  brought  to  the  city  with 
him,  of  the  many  thousand  troops  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  which 
might  be  at  once  concentrated  here,  scarcely  more  than  an  ordinary  guard ; 
and  until  it  fails  him,  he  will  continue  to  rely  upon  that  loyalty  and  patriot- 
ism of  the  citizens  of  Maryland,  which  have  never  yet  been  found  wanting 
to  the  government  in  time  of  need.  The  general  in  command  desires  to 
greet  and  treat  in  this  part  of  his  department  all  the  citizens  thereof  as 
friends  and  brothers,  having  a  common  purpose,  a  common  loyalty,  and  a 
common  country.     Any  infractions  of  the  laws  by  the  troops  under  his 


BALTIMORE.  115 

command,  or  any  disorderly,  unsoldierlike  conduct,  or  any  interference  with 
private  property,  he  desires  to  have  immediately  reported  to  him,  and 
pledges  himself  that  if  any  soldier  so  far  forgets  himself  as  to  break  those 
laws  that  he  has  sworn  to  defend  and  enforce,  he  shall  be  most  rigorously 
punished. 

"  The  general  believes  that  if  the  suggestions  and  requests  contained  in 
this  proclamation  are  faithfully  carried  out  by  the  co-operation  of  all  good 
and  Union-loving  citizens,  and  peace,  and  quiet,  and  certainty  of  future 
peace  and  quiet  are  thus  restored,  business  will  resume  its  accustomed  chan- 
nels, trade  take  the  place  of  dullness  and  inactivity,  efficient  labor  displace 
idleness,  and  Baltimore  will  be  in  fact,  what  she  is  entitled  to  be,  in  the 
front  rank  of  the  commercial  cities  of  the  nation. 

u  Given  at  Baltimore  the  day  and  year  herein  first  above  written. 

"Ben j.  F.  Butler, 
"Brigadier-general  commanding  department  of  Annapolis." 

Not  the  slightest  disturbance  of  the  peace  occurred.  The  sug- 
gestions and  requests  of  the  general  were  observed.  There  was 
plenty  of  private  growling,  and  some  small,  furtive  exhibitions  of 
disgust,  but  nothing  that  could  be  called  opposition.  Contraband 
gunpowder,  pikes,  arms  and  provisions  were  seized.  The  Union 
flag  was  hoisted  upon  buildings  belonging  to  the  United  States, 
and  the  flag  of  treason  nowhere  appeared.  The  camp  equipage  of 
the  troops  was  brought  in,  and  camps  were  formed  upon  the  hill. 
Early  in  the  afternoon,  General  Butler  and  his  staff  mounted  their 
horses,  and  rode  leisurely  through  the  streets  to  the  Gilmore 
house,  where  they  dismounted,  and  strolled  into  the  dining-room 
and  dined ;  after  which  they  remounted,  and  enjoyed  a  longer  ride 
in  the  streets,  meeting  no  molestation,  exciting  much  muttered  re- 
mark. General  Butler  does  not  mount  a  horse  quite  in  the  style 
of  a  London  guardsman.  In  mounting  before  the  Gilmore  house, 
across  a  wide  gutter,  he  had  some  little  difficulty  in  bestriding  his 
horse,  which,  a  passing  traitor  observing,  gave  rise  to  the  report, 
promptly  conveyed  to  Washington,  that  the  general  was  drunk 
that  day,  in  the  streets  of  Baltimore.  Such  a  misfortune  is  it  to 
have  short  legs,  with  a  gutter  and  a  horse  to  get  over.  From  that 
time,  the  soldiers,  in  twos  and  threes,  walked  freely  about  the  city, 
exhilarated,  now  and  then,  by  a  little  half-suppressed  vituperation 
from  men,  and  a  ludicrous  display  of  petulance  on  the  part  of  lovely 
woman.     Often  they  were  stopped  in  the  streets  by  Union  men, 


116  BALTIMORE. 

who  shook  them  warmly  by  the  hand,  and  thanked  them  for  coming 
to  their  deliverance. 

There  is  a  limit  to  the  endurance  of  man.  General  Butler  per- 
formed that  day,  one  of  his  day's  work.  At  night,  exhausted  to  an 
extreme,  for  he  had  not  lain  down  in  forty  hours,  and  racked  with 
headache,  he  ventured  to  go  to  bed ;  leaving  orders,  however,  that 
he  was  to  be  instantly  notified  if  anything  extraordinary  occurred. 
It  perversely  happened  that  many  extraordinary  things  did  occur 
that  night.  Some  important  seizures  were  made ;  some  valuable 
information  was  brought  in ;  many  plausible  rumors  gained  a  hear- 
ing ;  and,  consequently,  the  general  was  disturbed  about  every  half 
hour  during  the  night.  He  rose  in  the  morning  unrefreshed,  fever- 
ish, almost  sick.  His  feelings  may  be  imagined,  when,  at  half-past 
eight,  he  received  the  following  dispatch  from  the  lieutenant-gene- 
ral, dated  May  14th: 

"  Sir, — Your  hazardous  occupation  of  Baltimore  was  made  without 
my  knowledge,  and,  of  course,  without  my  approbation.  It  is  a 
God-send,  that  it  was  without  conflict  of  arms.  It  is,  also,  reported, 
that  you  have  sent  a  detachment  to  Frederick ;  but  this  is  impos- 
sible. Not  a  word  have  I  received  from  you  as  to  either  move- 
ment.    Let  me  hear  from  you." 

This  epistle  was  not  precisely  what  General  Butler  thought  was 
due  to  an  officer  who,  with  nine  hundred  men,  had  done  what 
General  Scott  was  preparing  to  do  with  twelve  thousand.  It  was 
a  damper.  It  looked  like  a  rebuke  for  doing  his  duty  too  well. 
The  sick  general  took  it  much  to  heart;  not  for  his  own  sake  mere- 
ly ;  he  could  not  but  augur  ill  of  the  conduct  of  the  war  if  a  neat 
and  triumphant  little  audacity,  like  his  march  into  Baltimore,  was 
to  be  rewarded  with  an  immediate  snub  from  head-quarters.  Being 
only  a  militia  brigadier,  he  did  not  clearly  see  how  a  war  was  to  be 
carried  on  without  incurring  some  slight  risk,  now  and  then,  of  a 
conflict  of  arms. 

But  there  was  little  time  for  meditation.  There  were  duties  to 
be  done.  For  one  item,  he  had  Ross  Winans  a  prisoner  in  Fort 
McHenry ;  his  pikes  and  steam-gun  being  also  in  safe  custody,  with 
other  evidence  of  his  treason.  He  was  preparing  to  try  Mr.  Wi- 
nans by  court-martial,  and  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Cameron,  asking  him 
not  to  interfere,  at  least,  not  to  release  him,  until  General  Butler 
could  go  to  Washington  and  explain  the  turpitude  of  his  guilt.     It 


BALTIMORE.  117 

was,  and  is,  the  general's  opinion,  that  the  summary  execution  of  a 
traitor  worth  fifteen  millions,  would  have  been  an  exhibition  of 
moral  strength  on  the  part  of  the  government,  such  as  the  times  re- 
quired. His  guilt  was  beyond  question.  If  there  is,  or  can  be,  such 
a  crime  as  treason  against  the  United  States,  this  man  had  com- 
mitted it,  not  in  language  only,  but  in  overt  acts,  numerous  and 
aggravated.  Mr.  Seward,  I  need  scarcely  say,  took  a  different  view 
of  the  matter.  Winans  was  released.  Why  his  pikes  and  his  steam- 
gun  were  not  returned  to  him,  does  not  appear.  A  few  months 
after,  it  was  found  necessary  to  place  him  again  in  confinement. 

Nothing  would  appease  General  Scott  short  of  the  recall  of  Gen- 
eral Butler  from  Baltimore,  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops  from 
Federal  Hill.  General  Butler  was  recalled,  and  General  Cadwal- 
lader  ruled  in  his  stead.  The  troops  were  temporarily  removed, 
and  General  Butler  returned  to  Washington. 

That  the  president  did  not  concur  with  the  rebuke  of  General 
Scott,  was  shown  by  his  immediately  offering  General  Butler  a  com- 
mission as  major-general,  and  the  command  of  Fortress  Monroe. 
That  the  secretary  of  war  did  not  concur  with  it,  I  infer  from  a 
passage  of  one  of  his  letters  from  St.  Petersburgh.  "I  always 
said,"  wrote  Mr.  Cameron,  "  that  if  you  had  been  left  at  Baltimore, 
the  rebellion  would  have  been  of  short  duration ;"  a  remark,  the 
full  significance  of  which  may,  one  day,  become  apparent  to  the 
American  people.  I  believe  I  may  say,  without  improperly  using 
the  papers  before  me,  that  more  than  one  member  of  the  cabinet 
held  the  opinion,  that  General  Butler's  recall  from  Baltimore  was 
solely  due  to  his  frustration  of  the  sublime  strategic  scheme  of 
taking  the  city  by  the  simultaneous  advance  of  four  columns  of 
three  thousand  men  each. 

The  people  made  known  their  opinion  of  General  Butler's  con- 
duct in  all  the  usual  ways.  On  the  evening  of  his  arrival  in  Wash- 
ington, he  was  serenaded,  and  most  abundantly  cheered.  His 
little  speech  on  this  occasion  was  a  great  hit.  The  remarkable 
feature  of  it  was,  that  it  expressed,  without  exaggeration,  as  with- 
out suppression,  his  habitual  feeling  respecting  the  war  into  which 
the  nation  was  groping  its  way.  He  talked  to  the  crowd  just  as  he 
had  often  talked,  and  talks  to  a  knot  of  private  friends  : 

"Fellow-Citizens: — Your  cheers  for  the  old  commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts are  rightly  bestowed.     Foremost  in  the  ranks  of  those  who  fought 


1 1  3  BALTIMORE. 

for  tho  liberty  of  the  country  in  the  revolution  were  the  men  of  Massachu- 
setts. It  is  a  historical  fact,  to  which  I  take  pride  in  now  referring,  that  in 
the  revolution,  Massachusetts  sent  more  men  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line  to  fight  for  the  cause  of  the  country,  than  all  the  southern  colonies  put 
together ;  and  in  this  second  war,  if  war  must  come,  to  proclaim  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence  anew,  and  as  a  necessary  consequence,  establish 
the  Union  and  the  constitution,  Massachusetts  will  give,  if  necessary,  every 
man  in  her  borders,  ay,  and  woman !  [Cheers.]  I  trust  I  may  be  excused 
for  speaking  thus  of  Massachusetts ;  but  I  am  confident  there  are  many 
within  the  sound  of  my  voice  whose  hearts  beat  with  proud  memories  of 
the  old  commonwealth.  There  is  this  difference,  I  will  say,  between  our 
southern  brothers  and  ourselves,  that  while  we  love  our  state  with  the  true 
love  of  a  son,  we  love  the  Union  and  the  country  with  an  equal  devo- 
tion. [Loud  and  prolonged  applause.]  "We  place  no  'state  rights' 
before,  above,  or  beyond  the  Union.  [Cheers.]  To  us  our  country  is  first, 
because  it  is  our  country  [three  cheers],  and  our  state  is  next  and  second, 
because  she  is  a  part  of  our  country  and  our  state.  [Eenewed  applause.] 
Our  oath  of  allegiance  to  our  country,  and  our  oath  of  allegiance  to  our 
state,  are  interwreathed  harmoniously,  and  never  come  in  conflict  nor  clash. 
He  who  does  his  duty  to  the  Union,  does  his  duty  to  the  state ;  and  he  who 
does  his  duty  to  the  state  does  his  duty  to  the  Union — '  one  inseparable, 
now  and  for  ever.'  [Renewed  applause.]  As  I  look  upon  this  demonstra- 
tion of  yours,  I  believe  it  to  be  prompted  by  a  love  of  the  common  cause, 
and  our  common  country — a  country  so  great  and  good,  a  government  so 
kind,  so  beneficent,  that  the  hand  from  which  we  have  only  felt  kindness 
is  now  for  the  first  time  raised  in  chastisement.  [Applause.]  Many  things 
in  a  man's  life  may  be  worse  than  death.  So,  to  a  government  there  may 
be  many  things,  such  as  dishonor  and  disintegration,  worse  than  the  shed- 
ding of  blood.  [Cheers.]  Our  fathers  purchased  our  liberty  and  country 
for  us  at  an  immense  cost  of  treasure  and  blood,  and  by  the  bright  heavens 
above  us,  we  will  not  part  with  them  without  first  paying  the  original  debt, 
and  the  interest  to  this  date !  [Loud  cheers.]  "We  have  in  our  veins  the 
same  blood  as  they  shed ;  we  have  the  same  power  of  endurance,  the  same 
love  of  liberty  and  law.  We  will  hold  as  a  brother  him  who  stands  by  the 
Union ;  we  will  hold  as  an  enemy  him  who  would  strike  from  its  constella- 
tion a  single  star.  [Applause.]  But,  I  hear  some  one  say,  '  Shall  we  carry 
on  this  fratricidal  war  ?  Shall  we  shed  our  brothers'  blood,  and  meet  in 
arms  our  brothers  in  the  South  V  I  would  say,  '  As  our  fathers  did  not 
hesitate  to  strike  the  mother  country  in  the  defense  of  our  rights,  so  we 
should  not  hesitate  to  meet  the  brother  as  they  did  the  mother.'  If  this 
unholy,  this  fratricidal  war,  is  forced  upon  us,  I  say,  '  Woe,  woe  to  them 
who  have  made  the  necessity.  Our  hands  are  clean,  our  hearts  are  pure ; 
but  the  Union  must  be  preserved  [intense  cheering.  When  silence  was 
restored,  he  continued]  at  all  hazard  of  money,  and,  if  need  be,  of  every 


BALTIMORE.  1  I  0 

life  this  sid.3  the  arctic  regions.  [Cheers.]  If  the  25,000  northern  soldiers 
who  are  here,  are  cut  off,  in  six  weeks  50,000  will  take  their  place ;  and  if 
they  die  by  fever,  pestilence,  or  the  sword,  a  quarter  of  a  million  will  take 
their  place,  till  our  army  of  the  reserve  will  he  women  with  their  broom- 
sticks, to  drive  every  enemy  into  the  gulf.  [Cheers  and  laughter.]  I  have 
neither  fear  nor  doubt  of  the  issue.  I  feel  only  horror  and  dismay  for  those 
who  have  made  the  war.  God  help  them !  we  are  here  for  our  rights,  for 
our  country,  for  our  flag.  Our  faces  are  set  south,  and  there  shall  be  no 
footstep  backward.  [Immense  applause.]  He  is  mistaken  who  supposes 
we  can  be  intimidated  by  threats  or  cajoled  by  compromise.  The  day  of 
compromise  is  past. 

"The  government  must  be  sustained  [cheers] ;  and  when  it  is  sustained, 
we  shall  give  everybody  in  the  Union  their  rights  under  the  constitution,  as 
we  always  have,  and  everybody  outside  of  the  Union  the  steel  of  the  Union, 
till  they  shall  come  under  the  Union.  [Cheers,  and  cries  of  'good,  go 
on.']  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  go  on  speech  making ;  but  if  you  will  go 
home  to  your  beds,  and  the  government  will  let  me,  I  will  go  south  fight- 
ing for  the  Union,  and  you  will  follow  me."* 

A  different  scene  awaited  him  the  next  morning  in  the  office  of 
the  lieutenant-general,  respecting  which  it  is  best  to  say  little.  He 
bore  the  lecture  for  half  an  hour  without  replying.  But  General 
Butler's  patience  under  unworthy  treatment  is  capable  of  being  ex- 
hausted. It  was  exhausted  on  this  occasion.  Indeed,  the  specta- 
cle of  cumbrous  inefficiency  which  the  head-quarters  of  the  army 
then  presented,  and  continued  long  to  present,  was  such  as  to 
grieve  and  alarm  every  man  acquainted  with  it,  who  had  also  an 
adequate  knowledge  of  the  formidable  task  to  which  the  country 
had  addressed  itself.  I  am  not  ashamed  to  relate,  that  General 
Butler,  on  reaching  his  apartment,  was  so  deeply  moved  by  what 
had  passed,  and  by  the  inferences  he  could  but  draw  by  what  had 
passed,  that  he  burst  into  hysteric  sobs,  which  he  found  himself,  for 
some  minutes,  unable  to  repress.  And,  what  was  worse,  he  had 
serious  thoughts  of  declining  the  proffered  promotion,  and  going 
home  to  resume  his  practice  at  the  bar.  Not  that  his  zeal  had 
flagged  in  the  cause ;  but  it  seemed  doubtful  whether,  in  the  cir- 
cumstances, a  man  of  enterprise  and  energy  would  be  allowed  to 
do  anything  of  moment  to  promote  the  cause. 

*  JT.  T.  Daily  Times. 


120  FOETEESS   MONEOE. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


EOETEESS   MONEOE. 


The  president  had  no  lecture  to  bestow  upon  General  Butler ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  compliment  and  congratulation.  He  urged 
him  to  accept  the  command  of  Fortress  Monroe,  and  use  the  same 
energy  in  retaking  Norfolk  as  he  had  displayed  at  Annapolis 
and  Baltimore.  After  a  day's  consideration,  the  general  said  he 
was  willing  enough  to  accept  the  proffered  promotion  and  the 
command  of  the  fortress,  if  he  could  have  the  means  of  being 
useful  there.  As  a  base  for  active  operations,  Fortress  Monroe 
was  good ;  he  only  objected  to  it  as  a  convenient  tomb  for  a 
troublesome  militia  general.  Could  he  have  four  Massachusetts 
regiments,  two  batteries  of  field  artillery,  and  the  other  requisites 
for  a  successful  advance  ?  Not  that  Massachusetts  troops  were 
better  than  others,  only  he  knew  them  better,  and  they  him.  Yes, 
he  could  have  them,  and  should,  and  whatever  else  he  needed  for 
effective  action.  An  active,  energetic  campaign  was  precisely  the 
thing  desired  and  expected  of  him,  and  nothing  should  be  wanting 
on  the  part  of  the  government  to  render  such  a  campaign  possible. 
This  being  understood,  he  joyfully  accepted  the  commission  and 
the  command.  General  Butler's  commission  as  major-general  dates 
from  May  16th,  two  days  after  his  thunderous  march  into  Balti- 
more. He  is  now,  therefore,  in  reality,  the  senior  major-general  in 
the  service  of  the  United  States.  On  that  day,  General  McClellan 
and  General  Banks  were  still  in  the  pay  of  their  respective  railroad 
companies ;  General  Dix  was  at  home ;  General  Fremont  was  in 
Europe,  attending  to  his  private  affairs. 

May  20th,  General  Butler  received  orders  from  General  Scott  for 
his  guidance  at  the  scene  of  his  future  labors  : 

"You  will  proceed,"  wrote  the  lieutenant-general,  "to  Fortress  Monroe 
and  assume  the  command  of  that  post,  when  Colonel  Dimmick  will  limit 
his  command  to  the  regular  troops  composing  a  part  of  its  garrison,  but 


FOETEESS   MONEOE.  121 

will,  by  himself  and  his  officers,  give  such  aid  in  the  instruction  of  the 
volunteers  as  you  may  direct. 

"  Besides  the  present  garrison  of  Fortress  Monroe,  consisting  of  such  com- 
panies of  regular  artillery,  portions  of  two  Massachusetts  regiments  of 
volunteers,  and  a  regiment  of  Vermont  volunteers,  nine  additional  regi- 
ments of  volunteers  from  New  York  may  soon  be  expected  there.  Only  a 
small  portion,  if  any,  of  these  can  be  conveniently  quartered  or  encamped 
in  the  fort,  the  greater  part,  if  not  the  whole  area  of  which  will  be  neces- 
sary for  exercises  on  the  ground.  The  nine  additional  regiments  must, 
therefore,  be  encamped  in  the  best  positions  outside  of  and  as  near  the 
fort  as  may  be.  For  this  purpose  it  is  hoped  that  a  pine  forest  north  of 
the  fort,  near  the  bay,  may  be  found  to  furnish  the  necessary  ground  and 
shade  for  some  three  thousand  men,  though  somewhat  distant  from  drink- 
ing and  cooking  water.  This,  as  well  as  feed,  it  may  be  necessary  to 
bring  to  the  camp  on  wheels.  The  quartermaster's  department  has  been 
instructed  to  furnish  the  necessary  vehicles,  casks,  and  draft  animals.  The 
war  garrison  of  Fortress  Monroe,  against  a  formidable  army,  provided  with 
an  adequate  siege  train,  is  about  2,500  men.  You  will  soon  have  there,  in- 
side and  out,  near  three  times  that  number.  Assuming  1,500  as  a  garrison 
adequate  to  resist  any  probable  attack  in  the  next  six  months,  or,  at  least, 
for  many  days  or  weeks,  you  will  consider  the  remainder  of  the  force,  un- 
der your  command,  disposable  for  aggressive  purposes  and  employ  it  ac- 
cordingly. 

"  In  respect  to  more  distant  operations,  you  may  expect  specific  instruc- 
tions at  a  later  date.  In  the  mean  time,  I  will  direct  your  attention  to  the 
following  objects:  1st.  Not  to  let  the  enemy  erect  batteries  to  annoy  For- 
tress Monroe ;  2d.  To  capture  any  batteries  the  enemy  may  have  within 
a  half  day's  march  of  you,  and  which  may  be  reached  by  land ;  3d.  The 
same  in  respect  to  the  enemy's  batteries,  at  or  about  Oraney  Island,  though 
requiring  water  craft ;  and  4th.  To  menace  and  to  recapture  the  navy 
yard  at  Gosport,  in  order  to  complete  its  destruction,  with  its  contents, 
except  what  it  may  be  practicable  to  bring  away  in  safety.  It  is  expected 
that  you  put  yourself  into  free  communication  with  the  commander  of  the 
U.  S.  naval  forces  in  Hampton  Roads,  and  invite  his  cordial  co-operation 
with  you  in  all  operations,  in  whole  or  in  part,  by  water,  and  no  doubt 
he  will  have  received  corresponding  instructions  from  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment. 

"  Boldness  in  execution  is  nearly  always  necessary ;  but  in  planning  and 
fitting  out  expeditions  or  detachments,  great  circumspection  is  a  virtue.  In 
important  cases,  where  time  clearly  permits,  be  sure  to  submit  your  plans 
and  ask  instructions  from  higher  authority. 

"  Communicate  with  me  often  and  fully  on  all  matters  important  to  the 


122  FOKTKESS    MONROE. 

May  22a,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  guns  of  the  for- 
tress saluted  General  Butler  as  the  commander  of  the  post ;  and  as 
soon  as  th^  ceremonies  of  his  arrival  were  over,  he  proceeded  to 
look  about  him,  to  learn  what  it  was  that  had  fallen  to  his  share. 
In  the  cour;  e  of  the  day,  he  made  great  progress  in  the  pursuit  oi 
knowledge. 

Fortress  Monroe  is  a  sixty-five  acre  field,  with  a  low,  massive 
stone  wall  around  it ;  big,  black  guns  peering  through  and  over 
the  top  of  the  wall ;  and  a  mile  and  a  half  of  canal  wound  round  its 
base.  Inside,  are  long  barracks,  hospitals,  a  little  chapel,  trees, 
avenues  of  trees,  gardens,  parade-grounds,  green  lawns,  gravel 
walks ;  and,  m  the  midst,  surrounded  by  trees  and  garden,  a  solid, 
broad,  slate-peaked  mansion,  the  residence  of  the  commander  of  the 
post.  Old  Point  Comfort,  broadening  at  the  extremity,  so  as  to 
form  a  peninsula,  seems  made  to  be  the  site  of  a  fort,  and  such 
it  must  remain  as  long  as  man  wages  war.  Whoever  holds  it,  and 
knows  how  to  use  it,  is  master  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina ; 
for  it  either  commands  or  threatens,  and  can  be  used  so  as  to  con- 
trol their  navigable  rivers,  their  harbors,  and  their  railroad  connec- 
tions with  the  South.  The  Southern  Confederacy,  so  called,  must 
have  it,  or  retire  to  the  Gulf.  Without  it,  the  Confederacy  is  noth- 
ing ;  and  the  place  can  only  be  taken  by  a  naval  power  superior 
to  that  of  the  United  States,  or  by  treachery.  If  it  had  been  built 
with  a  prophetic  view  to  the  events  of  the  last  three  years,  the  site 
could  not  have  been  better  selected  for  the  purposes  of  the  United 
States.  That  it  has  not  been  used  with  all  the  effect  it  might  have 
been,  was  not  the  fault  of  the  new  commandant,  as  shall  soon  be 
demonstrated. 

The  country  around  it,  on  the  main  land,  is  level ;  the  soil,  as 
Winthrop  describes  it,  a  fine  fertile  loam,  easily  running  to  dust  as 
the  English  air  does  to  fog ;  the  woods  dense  and  beautiful ;  the 
roads,  miserable  cart  tracks ;  the  cattle  "  scallawags,"  the  people 
ditto ;  the  farm  houses  dilapidated  and  mean ;  such  dens  as  a 
northern  drayman  would  have  disdained,  and  a  hod-carrier  only 
occupied  on  compulsion.  A  country  settled  for  two  hundred  and 
thirty  years,  but  not  as  pleasant,  nor  as  commodious,  nor  as  popu- 
lated, nor  as  civilized,  as  a  county  of  Minnesota  only  surveyed  ten 
years  ago.  But  many  of  the  people,  though  of  incredibly  con- 
tracted intelligence,  were  kind  and  hospitable,  and,  as  events  have 


FOETEESS    MOXEOS.  123 

shown,  brave  and  enduring.  If  life  seemed  stagnant  in  that  region, 
there  was  in  it  a  latent  energy  and  force,  which  poor  Winthrop  did 
not  suspect,  but  which,  however  misdirected,  he  would  have  been 
among  the  first  to  recognize.  Life  stagnant  is  not  so  fatal  as  life 
wasted  of  its  raw  material. 

This  huge  fort  was  one  of  the  hinges  of  the  stable-door  which 
was  shut  after  the  horse  had  been  stolen,  in  the  war  of  1812.  It 
had  never  been  used  for  warlike  purposes,  and  had  been,  usually, 
garrisoned  by  a  company  or  two,  or  three,  of  regular  troops,  who 
paraded  and  drilled  in  its  wide  expanses  with  listless  punctuality, 
and  fished  in  the  surrounding  waters,  or  strolled  about  the  adjacent 
village.  Colonel  Dimmick  was  the  commandant  of  the  post  when 
the  war  broke  out ;  a  faithful,  noble-minded  officer,  who,  with  his 
one  man  to  eight  yards  of  rampart,  kept  Virginia  from  clutching 
the  prize.  Two  or  three  thousand  volunteers  had  since  made  their 
way  to  the  fortress,  and  were  encamped  on  its  grounds. 

General  Butler  soon  discovered  that  of  the  many  things  necessary 
for  the  defense  of  the  post,  he  had  a  sufficiency  of  one  only,  namely, 
men.  There  was  not  one  horse  belonging  to  the  garrison ;  nor  one 
cart  nor  wagon.  Provision  barrels  had  to  be  rolled  from  the  land- 
ing to  the  fort,  three-quarters  of  a  mile.  There  was  no  well  or 
spring  within  the  walls  of  the  fortress ;  but  cisterns  only,  filled  with 
rain-water,  which  had  given  out  the  summer  before  when  there 
were  but  four  hundred  men  at  the  post.  Of  ammunition,  he  had 
but  five  thousand  rounds,  less  than  a  round  and  a  half  per  man  of 
the  kind  suited  to  the  greater  number  of  the  muskets  brought  by 
the  volunteers.  The  fort  was  getting  over-crowded  with  troops, 
and  more  were  hourly  expected;  he  would  have  nine  more  regi- 
ments in  a  few  days.  Room  must  be  found  for  the  new  comers 
outside  the  walls.  He  found,  too,  that  he  had,  in  his  vicinity,  an 
active,  numerous,  increasing  enemy,  who  were  busy  fortifying 
points  of  land  opposite  or  near  the  fort ;  points  essential  for  his 
purposes.  The  garrison  was,  in  effect,  penned  up  in  the  peninsula ; 
a  rebel  picket  a  mile  distant ;  a  rebel  flag  waving  from  Hampton 
Bridge  in  sight  of  the  fortress ;  rebel  forces  preparing  to  hem  in  the 
fortress  on  every  side,  as  they  had  done  Sumter ;  rumor,  as  usual, 
magnifying  their  numbers  tenfold.  Colonel  Dimmick  had  been  able 
to  seize  and  hold  the  actual  property  of  the  government;  no  more. 

Water  being  the  most  immediate  necessity,  General  Butler  di- 
6 


121  FOKTEESS   MONROE. 

rected  his  attention,  first  of  all,  to  securing  a  more  trustworthy  sup- 
ply. Can  the  artesian  well  be  speedily  finished,  which  was  begun 
long  ago,  and  then  suspended?  It  could,  thought  Colonel  de 
Kussy,  of  the  engineers,  who,  at  once,  at  the  general's  request,  con- 
sulted a  contractor  on  the  subject.  There  was  a  spring  a  mile  from 
the  fortress,  which  furnished  700  gallons  a  day.  Can  the  water  be 
conducted  to  the  fortress  by  a  temporary  pipe  ?  It  can,  reported 
the  colonel  of  engineers  ;  and  the  general  ordered  it  done.  Mean- 
while, water  from  Baltimore,  at  two  cents  a  gallon.  To-morrow, 
Colonel  Phelps,  with  his  Vermonters,  shall  cross  to  Hampton, 
reconnoiter  the  country,  and  see  if  there  is  good  camping  ground 
in  that  direction ;  for  the  pine  forest  suggested  by  General  Scott 
was  reported  by  Colonel  de  Russy  to  be  unhealthy  as  well  as 
waterless.  In  a  day  or  two,  Commodore  Stringham,  urged  thereto 
by  General  Butler,  would  have  shelled  out  the  rising  battery  at 
Sewall's  Point,  if  he  had  not  been  suddenly  ordered  away  to  the 
blockade  of  Charleston  harbor.  Already  the  general  had  an  eye 
upon  Newport  News,  eleven  miles  to  the  south,  directly  upon  one 
of  the  roads  he  meant  to  take  by  and  by,  when  the  promised  means 
of  offensive  warfare  arrived.  Word  was  brought  that  the  enemy 
had  an  eye  upon  it,  too;  and  General  Butler  determined  to  be 
there  before  them.  That  rolling  of  barrels  from  the  landing  would 
never  do ;  on  this  first  day,  the  general  ordered  surveys  and  esti- 
mates for  a  railroad  between  the  wharf  and  the  fortress.  The  men 
were  eating  hard  biscuit :  he  directed  the  construction  of  a  new 
bake-house,  that  they  might  have  bread. 

The  next  day,  as  every  one  remembers,  Colonel  Phelps  made  his 
reconnoissance  in  Hampton  and  its  vicinity — not  without  a  show  of 
opposition.  Upon  approaching  the  bridge  over  Hampton  Creek, 
Colonel  Phelps  perceived  that  the  rebels  had  set  fire  to  the  bridge. 
Rushing  forward  at  the  double-quick,  the  men  tore  off  the  burning 
planks  and  quickly  extinguished  the  fire ;  then  marching  into  the 
village,  completed  their  reconnoissance,  and  performed  some  evolu- 
tions for  the  edification  of  the  inhabitants.  Colonel  Phelps  met 
there  several  of  his  old  West  Point  comrades,  whom  he  warned  of 
the  inevitable  failure  of  their  bad  cause,  and  advised  them  to  aban- 
don it  in  time.  The  general  himself  was  soon  on  the  ground,  and 
took  a  ride  of  seven  miles  in  the  enemy's  country  that  afternoon, 
still  eager  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge. 


F0ETEESS   MONEOE.  12  o 

One  noticeable  thing  was  reported  by  the  troops  on  their  return. 
It  was,  that  the  negroes,  to  a  man,  were  the  trusting,  enthusiastic 
friends  of  the  Union  soldiers.  They  were  all  glee  and  welcome  ; 
and  Colonel  Phelps  and  his  men  were  the  last  people  in  the  world 
to  be  backward  in  responding  to  their  salutations.  No  one  knew 
better  than  he  that  in  every  worthy  black  man  and  woman  in  the 
South  the  Union  could  find  a  helping  friend  if  it  would.  By  what- 
ever free-masonry  it  was  brought  about,  the  negroes  received  the 
impression,  that  day,  that  those  Vermonters  and  themselves  were 
on  the  same  side. 

This  Colonel  Phelps  is  one  of  the  remarkable  figures  of  the  war. 
A  tall,  loose-jointed,  stout-hearted,  benignant  man  of  fifty,  the  soul 
of  honesty  and  goodness.  It  had  been  his  fortune,  before  his  retire- 
ment from  the  army,  to  be  stationed  for  many  years  in  the  South. 
For  the  last  thirty  years,  if  any  one  had  desired  to  test,  with  the  ut- 
most possible  severity,  a  New  Englander's  manhood  and  intelligence, 
the  way  to  do  it  was  to  make  him  an  officer  of  the  United  States 
army,  and  station  him  in  a  slave  state.  If  there  was  any  lurk- 
ing atom  of  baseness  in  him,  slavery  would  be  sure  to  find  it 
out,  and  work  upon  it  to  the  corruption  of  the  entire  man.  If 
there  was  even  defective  intelligence  or  weakness  of  will,  as  surely 
as  he  continued  to  live  there,  he  would,  at  last,  be  found  to  have 
yielded  to  the  seducing  influence,  and  to  have  lost  his  moral  sense : 
first  enduring,  then  tolerating,  defending,  applauding,  participating. 
For  slavery  is  of  such  a  nature,  that  it  must  either  debauch  or 
violently  repel  the  man  who  is  obliged  to  live  long  in  the  hourly  con- 
templation of  it.  There  can  be  no  medium  or  moderation.  No 
man  can  hate  slavery  a  little,  or  like  it  a  little.  It  must  either  spoil 
or  madden  him  if  he  lives  with  it  long  enough.  Colonel  Phelps 
stood  the  test;  but,  at  the  same  time,  the  long  dwelling  upon 
wrongs  which  he  could  do  nothing  to  redress,  the  long  contempla- 
tion of  suffering  which  he  could  not  stir  to  relieve,  impaired,  in  some 
degree,  the  healthiness,  the  balance  of  his  mind.  He  seemed,  at 
times,  a  man  of  one  idea.  With  such  tenderness  as  his,  such  quick- 
ness and  depth  of  moral  feeling,  it  is  a  wonder  he  did  not  go  raving 
mad.  When  the  war  began,  he  was  at  home  upon  his  farm,  a  man 
of  wealth  for  rural  Vermont;  and  now  he  was  at  Fortress  Monroe, 
commanding  a  regiment  of  three  months'  militia ;  a  very  model  of 
a  noble,  brave,  modest,  and  righteous  warrior,  full  in  the  belief  that 


126  FORTRESS    MONROE. 

the  longed-for  time  of  deliverance  had  come.  It  was  a  strange 
coming  together,  this  of  the  Massachusetts  democrat  and  the  Ver- 
mont abolitionist — both  armed  in  the  same  cause.  General  Butler 
felt  all  the  worth  of  his  new  friend,  and  they  worked  together  with 
abundant  harmony  and  good-will. 

Colonel  Phelps's  reconnoissance  led  to  the  selection  of  a  spot  be- 
tween Hampton  and  the  fort  for  an  encampment.  The  next  day, 
General  Butler  went  in  person  to  Newport  News,  and,  on  the  fifth 
day  after  taking  command  of  the  post,  had  a  competent  force  at 
that  vital  point,  intrenching  and  fortifying.  Meanwhile,  in  exten- 
sive dispatches  to  head-quarters,  he  had  made  known  to  General 
Scott  his  situation  and  his  wants.  He  asked  for  horses,  vehicles, 
ammunition,  field-artillery,  and  a  small  force  of  cavalry.  Also  (for 
attacks  upon  the  enemy's  shore  batteries),  he  asked  for  fifty  surf- 
boats,  "  of  such  construction  as  the  lieutenant-general  caused  to  be 
prepared  for  the  landing  at  Vera  Cruz,  the  efficiency  and  adapt- 
edness  of  which  has  passed  into  history."  He  asked  for  the  comple- 
tion of  the  artesian  well,  and  the  construction  of  the  short  railroad. 
He  justified  the  occupation  of  Newport  News,  on  the  ground  that 
it  lay  close  to  the  obvious  highway,  by  water,  to  Richmond,  upon 
which  already  General  Butler  had  cast  a  general's  eye. 

On  the  evening  of  the  second  day  after  his  arrival  at  the  post,  the 
event  occurred  which  will  for  ever  connect  the  name  of  General 
Butler  with  the  history  of  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  America. 
Colonel  Phelps's  visit  to  Hampton  had  thrown  the  white  inhabitants 
into  such  alarm  that  most  of  them  prepared  for  flight,  and  many 
left  their  homes  that  night,  never  to  see  them  again.  In  the  confu- 
sion three  negroes  escaped,  and,  making  their  way  across  the 
bridges,  gave  themselves  up  to  a  Union  picket,  saying  that  their 
master,  Colonel  Mallory,  was  about  to  remove  them  to  North  Caro- 
lina to  work  upon  rebel  fortifications  there,  far  away  from  their 
wives  and  children,  who  were  to  be  left  in  Hampton.  They  were 
brought  to  the  fortress,  and  the  circumstance  was  reported  to  the 
general  in  the  morning.  He  questioned  each  of  them  separately, 
and  the  truth  of  their  story  became  manifest.  He  needed  laborers. 
He  was  aware  that  the  rebel  batteries  that  were  rising  around  him 
were  the  work  chiefly  of  slaves,  without  whose  assistance  they 
could  not  have  been  erected  in  time  to  give  him  trouble.  He 
wished  to  keep  these  men.     The  garrison  wished  them  kept.     The 


FORTRESS  MONROE.  127 

country  would  have  deplored  or  resented  the  sending  of  them 
away.  If  they  had  been  Colonel  Mallory's  horses,  or  Colonel  Mal- 
lory's spades,  or  Colonel  Mallory's  percussion  caps,  he  would  have 
seized  them  and  used  them,  without  hesitation.  Why  not  property 
more  valuable  for  the  purposes  of  the  rebellion  than  any  other  ? 

He  pronounced  the  electric  words,  "  These  men  are  Contraband 
of  War  ;  set  them  at  work." 

"  An  epigram,"  as  Winthrop  remarks,  "  abolished  slavery  in 
the  United  States."  The  word  took ;  for  it  gave  the  country  an 
excuse  for  doing  what  it  was  longing  to  do.  Every  one  remem- 
bers how  relieved  the  "  conservative"  portion  of  the  people  felt, 
when  they  found  that  the  slaves  could  be  used  on  the  side  of  the 
Union,  without  giving  Kentucky  a  new  argument  against  it,  Ken- 
tucky, at  that  moment,  controlling  the  policy  of  the  administra- 
tion. "The  South,"  said  Wendell  Phillips,  in  a  recent  speech, 
"  fought  to  sustain  slavery,  and  the  North  fought  not  to  have  it 
hurt.  But  Butler  pronounced  that  magic  word,  '  contraband,'  and 
summoned  the  negro  into  the  arena.  It  was  a  poor  word.  I  do 
not  know  that  it  is  sound  law ;  but  Lord  Chatham  said,  '  nullus 
liber  homo9  is  coarse  Latin,  but  it  is  wOrth  all  the  classics.  Con- 
traband is  a  bad  word,  and  may  be  bad  law,  but  it  is  worth  all 
the  Constitution ;  for  in  a  moment  of  critical  emergency  it  sum- 
moned the  saving  elements  into  the  national  arena,  and  it  showed 
the  government  how  far  the  sound  fiber  of  the  nation  extended." 

By  the  time  the  three  negroes  were  comfortably  at  work  upon 
the  new  bake-house,  General  Butler  received  the  following  brief 
epistle,  signed,  "  J.  B.  Carey,  major-acting,  Virginia  volunteers  :" 

"  Be  pleased  to  designate  some  time  and  place  when  it  will  be 
agreeable  to  you  to  accord  me  a  personal  interview." 

The  general  complied  with  the  request.  In  the  afternoon  two 
groups  of  horsemen  might  have  been  seen  approaching  one  another 
on  the  Hampton  road,  a  mile  from  the  fort.  One  of  these  consisted 
of  General  Butler  and  two  of  his  staff,  Major  Fay  and  Captain 
Haggerty ;  the  other,  of  Major  Carey  and  two  or  three  friends. 
Major  Carey  and  General  Butler  were  old  political  allies,  having 
acted  in  concert  both  at  Charleston  and  at  Baltimore — hard-shell 
democrats  both.  After  an  exchange  of  courteous  salutations,  and 
the  introduction  of  companions,  the  conference  began.  The  conver- 
sation was,  as  nearly  as  can  be  recalled,  in  these  words  : 


128  FORTRESS   MONROE. 

Major  Carey :  "  I  have  sought  this  interview,  sir,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ascertaining  upon  what  principles  you  intend  to  conduct 
the  war  in  this  neighborhood." 

The  general  bowed  his  willingness  to  give  the  information  de- 
sired. 

Major  Carey:  "I  ask,  first,  whether  a  passage  through  the 
blockading  fleet  will  be  allowed  to  the  families  of  citizens  of 
Virginia,  who  may  desire  to  go  north  or  south  to  a  place  of 
safety." 

General  Butler :  "  The  presence  of  the  families  of  belligerents  is 
always  the  best  hostage  for  their  good  behavior.  One  of  the 
objects  of  the  blockade  is  to  prevent  the  admission  of  supplies 
of  provisions  into  Virginia,  while  she  continues  in  an  attitude 
hostile  to  the  government.  Reducing  the  number  of  consum- 
ers would  necessarily  tend  to  the  postponement  of  the  object  in 
view.  Besides,  the  passage  of  vessels  through  the  blockade  would 
involve  an  amount  of  labor,  in  the  way  of  surveillance,  to  prevent 
abuse,  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  perform.  I  am  under  the 
necessity,  therefore,  of  refusing  the  privilege." 

Major  Carey:  "Will  the  passage  of  families  desiring  to  go 
north  be  permitted  ?" 

General  Butler:  "With  the  exception  of  an  interruption  at 
Baltimore,  which  has  now  been  disposed  of,  the  travel  of  peaceable 
citizens  through  the  North  has  not  been  hindered  ;  and  as  to  the  in- 
ternal line  through  Virginia,  your  friends  have,  for  the  present,  en- 
tire control  of  it.  The  authorities  at  Washington  can  judge  better 
than  I  upon  this  point,  and  travelers  can  well  go  that  way  in  reach- 
ing the  North." 

Major  Carey :  "  I  am  informed  that  three  negroes,  belonging  to 
Colonel  Mallory,  have  escaped  within  your  lines.  I  am  Colonel 
Mallory's  agent,  and  have  charge  of  his  property.  What  do  you 
intend  to  do  with  regard  to  those  negroes  ?" 

General  Butler :  "  I  propose  to  retain  them." 

Major  Carey :  "Do  you  mean,  then,  to  set  aside  your  constitu- 
tional obligations  ?" 

General  Butler  :  "  I  mean  to  abide  by  the  decision  of  Virginia, 
as  expressed  in  her  ordinance  of  secession,  passed  the  day  before 
yesterday.  I  am  under  no  constitutional  obligations  to  a  foreign 
country,  which  Virginia  now  claims  to  be." 


FORTRESS   MONROE.  129 

Major  Carey :  "  But  you  say,  we  can't  secede,  and  so  you  can 
not  consistently  detain  the  negroes." 

General  Butler :  "  But  you  say,  you  have  seceded,  and  so  you 
can  not  consistently  claim  them.  I  shall  detain  the  negroes  as  con- 
traband of  war.  You  are  using  them  upon  your  batteries.  It  is 
merely  a  question  whether  they  shall  be  used  for  or  against  the 
government.  Nevertheless,  though  I  greatly  need  the  labor  which 
has  providentially  fallen  into  my  hands,  if  Colonel  Mallory  will 
come  into  the  fort  and  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United 
States,  he  shall  have  his  negroes,  and  I  will  endeavor  to  hire  them 
from  him." 

Major  Carey :  "  Colonel  Mallory  is  absent." 

The  interview  here  terminated,  and  each  party,  with  polite  fare- 
well, went  its  way. 

This  was  on  Friday,  May  24.  On  Sunday  morning,  eight  more 
negroes  came  in,  and  were  received.  On  Monday  morning,  forty- 
seven  more,  of  all  ages;  men,  women,  and  children;  several  whole 
families  among  them.  In  the  afternoon,  twelve  men,  good  field 
hands,  arrived.  And  they  continued  to  come  in  daily,  in  tens, 
twenties,  thirties,  till  the  number  of  contrabands  in  the  various 
camp?  numbered  more  than  nine  hundred.  A  commissioner  of 
negro  affairs  was  appointed,  who  taught,  fed,  and  governed  them ; 
who  reported,  after  several  weeks'  experience,  that  they  worked 
well  2nd  cheerfully,  required  no  urging,  and  perfectly  compre- 
hended him  when  he  told  them  that  they  were  as  much  entitled  to 
freedom  as  himself.  They  were  gentle,  docile,  careful  and  efficient 
laborers ;  their  demeanor  dignified,  their  conversation  always 
decent- 
General  Butler's  correspondence  with  the  government  on  this 
subject  is  not  forgotten ;  but  it  is  proper  that  it  should  be  repeated 
here.  He  merely  related  his  interview  with  Major  Carey  in  his 
first  letter  to  General  Scott,  and  asked  for  instructions.  In  his 
second  dispatch,  dated  May  27th,  he  referred  to  the  subject  again. 

"  Since  I  wrote  my  last,"  he  observed,  "  the  question  in  regard 
to  slave  property  is  becoming  one  of  very  serious  magnitude.  The 
inhabitants  of  Virginia  are  using  their  negroes  in  the  batteries,  and 
are  preparing  to  send  their  women  and  children  south.  The  es- 
capes from  them  are  very  numerous,  and  a  squad  has  come  in  this 
morning,  and  my  pickets  are  bringiug  their  women  and  children. 


130  FOETEESS   MONEOE. 

Of  course  these  can  not  be  dealt  with  upon  the  theory  on  which  I 
designed  to  treat  the  services  of  able-bodied  men  and  women  who 
might  come  within  my  lines,  and  of  which  I  gave  you  a  detailed 
account  in  my  last  dispatch. 

"  I  am  in  the  utmost  doubt  what  to  do  with  this  species  of  prop-{ 
erty.  Up  to  this  time  I  have  had  come  within  my  lines  men  and 
women,  with  their  children,  entire  families,  each  family  belonging 
to  the  same  owner.  I  have,  therefore,  determined  to  employ,  as  I 
can  do  very  profitably,  the  able-bodied  persons  in  the  party,  issuing 
proper  food  for  the  support  of  all,  and  charging  against  their  ser- 
vices the  expense  of  care  and  sustenance  of  the  non-laborers,  keep- 
ing a  strict  and  accurate  account  as  well  of  the  services  as  of  the 
expenditures,  having  the  worth  of  the  services,  and  the  cost  of  the 
expenditure  determined  by  a  board  of  survey  hereafter  to  be  de- 
tailed. I  know  of  no  other  manner  in  which  to  dispose  of  this  sub- 
ject, and  the  questions  connected  therewith.  As  a  matter  of  prop- 
erty, to  the  insurgents  it  will  be  of  very  great  moment,  the  number 
that  I  now  have  amounting,  as  I  am  informed,  to  what  in  good 
times  would  be  of  the  value  of  $60,000. 

"  Twelve  of  these  negroes,  I  am  informed,  have  escaped  from  the 
erection  of  the  batteries  on  Sewall's  Point,  which  fired  on  my  expe- 
dition as  it  passed  by  out  of  range.  As  a  means  of  offense,  there- 
fore, in  the  enemy's  hands,  these  negroes,  when  able-bodied,  are  of 
great  importance.  "Without  them  the  batteries  could  not  have  been 
erected,  at  least  for  many  weeks.  As  a  military  question,  it  would 
seem  to  be  a  measure  of  necessity,  and  deprives  their  master  of  their 
services. 

"  How  can  this  be  done  ?  As  a  political  question,  and  a  question 
of  humanity,  can  I  receive  the  services  of  a  father  and  a  mother,  and 
not  take  the  children  ?  Of  the  humanitarian  aspect  I  have  no  doubt ; 
of  the  political  one  I  have  no  right  to  judge.  I  therefore  submit 
all  this  to  your  better  judgment ;  and,  as  these  questions  have  a 
political  aspect,  I  have  ventured,  and  I  trust  I  am  not  wrong  in  so 
doing,  to  duplicate  the  parts  of  my  dispatch  relating  to  this  subject, 
and  forward  them  to  the  secretary  of  war." 

The  secretary  replied,  May  30th :  "  Your  action  in  respect  to  the 
negroes  who  came  within  your  lines,  from  the  service  of  the  rebels, 
is  approved.  The  department  is  sensible  of  the  embarrassments, 
which  must  surround  officers  conducting  military  operations  in  a 


FORTRESS   MONROE.  131 

state,  by  the  laws  of  which  slavery  is  sanctioned.  The  govern- 
ment can  not  recognize  the  rejection  by  any  state  of  its  federal  obli- 
gation ;  resting  upon  itself,  among  these  federal  obligations,  how- 
ever, no  one  can  be  more  important  than  that  of  suppressing  and 
dispersing  any  combination  of  the  former  for  the  purpose  of  over 
throwing  its  whole  constitutional  authority.  While,  therefore,  you 
will  permit  no  interference,  by  persons  under  your  command, 
with  the  relations  of  persons  held  to  service  under  the  laws 
of  any  state,  you  will  on  the  other  hand,  so  long  as  any  state  within 
which  your  military  operations  are  conducted,  remain  under  the 
control  of  such  armed  combinations,  refrain  from  surrendering  to 
alleged  masters  any  persons  who  come  within  your  lines.  You 
will  employ  such  persons  in  the  services  to  which  they  will  be  best 
adapted,  keeping  an  account  of  the  labor  by  them  performed,  of 
the  value  of  it,  and  the  expenses  of  their  maintenance.  The  ques- 
tion of  their  final  disposition  will  be  reserved  for  future  determina- 
tion." 

So  the  matter  rested  for  two  months,  at  the  expiration  of  which 
events  revived  the  question.  Meanwhile,  General  Butler  was  ob- 
servant of  the  conduct  and  the  character  of  the  negroes,  and  had 
divers  reflections  upon  the  tendency  of  the  patriarchal  institution. 
The  negroes  accepted  readily  enough  their  new  name  of  Contra- 
bands, without  being  able  to  get  any  one  to  answer  intelligibly 
their  frequent  question,  why  the  white  folks  called  them  so. 

Many  strange  scenes  occurred  in  connection  with  this  flight  of 
the  negroes  to  "  Freedom  Fort,"  as  they  styled  it ;  for  one  of  which, 
perhaps,  space  may  be  spared  here.  It  gives  us  a  glimpse  into  one 
of  those  ancient  Virginia  homes  suddenly  desolated  by  the  war. 
Major  Winthrop,  I  should  premise,  had  now  arrived  at  the  fortress. 
He  came  just  in  time  to  take  the  place  of  military  secretary  to  the 
general  commanding,  which  had  been  vacant  only  a  day  or  two,  and 
was  now  a  happy  member  of  the  general's  family,  winning  his  rapid 
way  to  all  hearts.  I  mention  him  here  because  his  comrades  remem- 
ber how  intensely  amused  he  was  at  the  interview  about  to  be  de- 
scribed. If  he  had  lived  a  few  days  longer  than  he  did,  he  would 
probably  have  told  it  himself,  in  his  brief,  bright,  graphic  manner. 
The  office  of  the  general  at  head-quarters  was  the  place  where  the 
scene  occurred. 

Enter,  an  elderly,  grave,  church-warden  looking  gentleman,  ap- 
6* 


132  FORTRESS   &ONBOS. 

parently  oppressed  with  care  or  grief.  He  was  recognized  as  a 
i  respectable  farmer  of  the  neighborhood,  the  owner,  so  called,  of 
■thirty  or  forty  negroes,  and  a  farm-house  in  the  dilapidated  style 
of  architecture,  which  might  be  named  the  Virginian  Order.  Ad- 
vancing to  the  table,  he  announced  his  name  and  business.  He  said 
he  had  come  to  ask  the  officer  commanding  the  post  for  the  return 
of  one  of  his  negroes — only  one ;  and  he  proceeded  to  relate  the 
circumstances  upon  which  he  based  his  modest  request.  But  he 
told  his  tale  in  a  manner  so  measured  and  woful,  revealing  such  a 
curious  ignorance  of  any  other  world  than  the  little  circle  of  ideas 
and  persons  in  which  he  had  moved  all  his  life,  with  such  naive  and 
comic  simplicity,  that  the  hearers  found  it  impossible  to  take  a  se- 
rious view  of  his  really  lamentable  situation.  He  proceeded  in 
something  like  these  words : — 

"  I  have  always  treated  my  negroes  kindly.  I  supposed  they  loved 
me.  Last  Sunday,  I  went  to  church.  When  I  returned  from 
church,  and  entered  into  my  house,  I  called  Mary  to  take  off  my 
coat  and  hang  it  up.  But  Mary  did  not  come.  And  again  I  called 
Mary  in  a  louder  voice,  but  I  received  no  answer.  Then  I  went 
into  the  room  to  find  Mary,  but  I  found  her  not.  There  was  no 
one  in  the  room.  I  went  into  the  kitchen.  There  was  no  one  in 
the  kitchen.  I  went  into  the  garden.  There  was  no  one  in  the  gar- 
den. I  went  to  the  negro  quarters.  There  was  no  one  at  the  ne- 
gro quarters.  All  my  negroes  had  departed,  sir,  while  I  was  at 
the  house  of  God.  Then  I  went  back  again  into  my  house.  And 
soon  there  came  to  me  James,  who  has  been  my  body-servant  for 
many  years.  And  I  said  to  James : 
" '  James,  what  has  happened  ?' 

"  And  James  said,  '  All  the  people  have  gone  to  the  fort.' 
" '  While  I  was  gone  to  the  house  of  God,  James  V 
"  And  James  said,  '  Yes,  master ;  they're  all  gone.' 
"  And  I  said  to  James,  *  Why  didn't  you  go  too,  James  ?' 
"  And  James  said,  '  Master,  I'll  never  leave  you.' 
"  '  Well  James,'  said  I,  c  as  there's  nobody  to  cook,  see  if  you 
can  get  me  some  cold  victuals  and  some  whisky.' 

"  So  James  got  me  some  cold  victuals,  and  I  ate  them  with  a 
heavy  heart.     And  when  I  had  eaten,  I  said  to  James  : 

"  '  James,  it  is  of  no  use  for  us  to  stay  here.     Let  us  go  to  your 
mistress.' 


F0ETEESS   MONEOE.  188 

"  His  mistress,  sir,  had  gone  away  from  her  home,  eleven  miles, 
fleeing  from  the  dangers  of  the  war. 

"'And,  so,  James,'  said  I,  'harness  the  best  horse  to  the  cart, 
and  put  into  the  cart  our  best  bed,  and  some  bacon,  and  some  corn 
meal,  and,  James,  some  whisky,  and  we  will  go  onto  your  mis- 
tress.' 

"  And  James  did  even  as  I  told  him,  and  some  few  necessaries 
besides.  And  we  started.  It  was  a  heavy  load  for  the  horse.  I 
trudged  along  on  foot,  and  James  led  the  horse.  It  was  late  at 
night,  sir,  when  we  arrived,  and  I  said  to  James : 

" '  James,  it  is  of  no  use  to  unload  the  cart  to-night.  Put  the 
horse  into  the  barn,  and  unload  the  cart  in  the  morning.' 

"  And  James  said,  '  Yes,  master.' 

"  I  met  my  wife,  sir ;  I  embraced  her,  and  went  to  bed ;  and,  not- 
withstanding my  troubles,  I  slept  soundly.  The  next  morning, 
James  was  gone !  Then  I  came  here,  and  the  first  thing  I  saw, 
when  I  got  here,  was  James  peddling  cabbages  to  your  men  out  of 
that  very  cart." 

dp  to  this  point,  the  listeners  had  managed  to  keep  their  counte- 
nances under  tolerable  control.  But  the  climax  to  the  story  was 
drawled  out  in  a  manner  so  lugubriously  comic,  that  neither  the 
general  nor  the  staff  could  longer  conceal  their  laughter.  The  poor 
old  gentleman,  unconscious  of  any  but  the  serious  aspects  of  his 
case,  gave  them  one  sad,  reproachful  look,  and  left  the  fort  with- 
out uttering  another  word.     He  had  fallen  upon  evil  times. 

General  Butler,  meanwhile,  had  been  studying  the  country  around 
him  with  a  true  general's  eye.  His  dispatches  to  head-quarters 
teem  with  evidence  that,  inexperienced  as  he  was  in  the  business  of 
waging  war,  he  comprehended  the  advantages  and  opportunities  of 
his  position.  The  uppermost  thought  in  his  mind  was,  that  the 
way  to  Richmond  was  by  the  James  river — not  through  the  mazes 
of  Manassas  and  the  wilderness  beyond  him.    Hear  him : 

May  27,  the  fourth  day  of  his  command :  "  The  advantages  of 
Newport  News  are  these :  There  are  two  springs  of  veiy  pure 
water  there.  The  bluff  is  a  fine,  healthy  situation.  It  has  two 
^ood,  commodious  wharves,  to  which  steamers  of  any  draft  of 
water  may  come  up  at  all  stages  of  the  tide.  It  is  as  near  any 
point  of  operation  as  Fortress  Monroe,  where  we  are  obliged  to 
lighten  all  vessels  of  draft  over  ten  feet,  and  have  but  one  wharf. 


134  FORTRESS   MONROE. 

The  News,  upon  which  I  propose  to  have  a  water  battery  of  four 
eight-inch  guns,  commands  the  ship  channel  of  James  river,  and  a 
force  there  is  a  perpetual  menace  to  Richmond.  My  next  point 
of  operation,  I  propose,  shall  be  Pig  Point  battery,  which  is  exactly 
opposite  the  News,  commanding  Nansemond  river.  Once  in  com- 
mand of  that  battery,  which  I  believe  can  easily  be  turned,  I  can 
then  advance  along  the  Nansemond  and  easily  take  Suffolk,  and 
there  either  hold  or  destroy  the  railroad  connection  both  between 
Richmond  and  Norfolk,  and  between  Norfolk  and  the  South. 
With  a  perfect  blockade  of  Elizabeth  river,  and  taking  and  holding 
Suffolk,  and  perhaps  York,  Norfolk  will  be  so  perfectly  hemmed  in, 
that  starvation  will  cause  the  surrender,  without  risking  an  attack 
on  the  strongly  fortified  intrenchments  around  Norfolk,  with  great 
loss,  and  perhaps  defeat.  If  this  plan  of  operations  does  not  meet 
the  approbation  of  the  lieutenant-general,  I  would  be  glad  of  his  in- 
structions specifically.  If  it  is  desirable  to  move  on  Richmond, 
James  and  York  rivers,  both  thus  held,  would  seem  to  be  the  most 
eligible  routes.  I  have  no  co-operation,  substantially,  by  the  navy, 
the  only  vessels  now  here  being  the  Cumberland  and  the  Harriet 
Lane ;  the  former  too  unwieldy  to  get  near  shore  to  use  her  bat- 
tery ;  the  other  so  light  in  her  battery  as  not  to  be  able  to  cope 
with  a  single  battery  of  the  rebels.  I  have  great  need  of  surf-boats 
for  sea-coast  and  river  advances,  and  beg  leave  to  suggest  the  mat- 
ter again  to  you." 

June  4 — eight  days  later.  "  I  have  here,  altogether,  about  six 
thousand  effective  men.  I  am,  as  yet,  without  transportation  or 
surf-boats,  which  I  must  have,  in  order  to  make  a  movement.  *  * 
I  am  preparing  myself,  however,  to  be  able  to  land,  by  causing  ore 
regiment,  at  least,  to  be  drilled  in  embarking  in  and  landing  from 
boats.  I  have  also  sent  up  to  the  mouth  of  the  Susquehannah,  to 
charter  or  purchase  ten  of  a  kind  of  boat  which,  I  am  informed  by 
a  gentleman  connected  with  the  squadron,  will  be  the  best  possible, 
excepting  regularly  constructed  surf-boats,  for  the  purpose  of  land- 
ing troops." 

June  6.  "  The  intrenchments  at  Newport  News  will  have  been 
completed  by  the  time  this  report  reaches  you,  and  the  place  is 
really  very  strong.  A  battery  of  four  eight-inch  columbiads  will 
command  the  channel  of  the  river  upon  one  side,  but  still  leaves 
open  the  channel  on  the  Nansemond  side.     On  that  side,  as  you  will 


FORTRESS   MONROE.  105 

perceive,  is  Pig  Point,  upon  which  the  rebels  have  erected  bat- 
teries, which  they  are  striving  now  to  finish,  mounting  seven 
guns,  thirty-twos  and  forty-fours.  If  we  were  in  possession  of  Pig 
Point,  the  James  and  Nansemond  would  be  both  under  our  control, 
and  the  services  of  our  blockading  vessels  might  be  dispensed  with, 
which  are  now  required  to  prevent  water  communication  between 
Richmond  and  Williamsburgh,  and  between  Norfolk  and  Suffolk. 
My  proposition  is,  therefore,  to  make  a  combined  land  and  naval 
attack  upon  Pig  Point,  and  endeavor  to  carry  the  batteries,  both 
by  turning  them,  and  by  direct  attack  upon  the  naval  force.  If  we 
succeed,  then  to  intrench  ourselves  there  with  what  speed  we 
may,  and  re-establish  the  battery.  But,  at  the  same  time,  to  push 
on,  with  the  same  flotilla  of  boats  with  which  we  landed,  up  the 
Nansemond,  which  is  navigable  for  boats,  and,  I  believe,  light- 
draught  steamers,  to  Suffolk,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles.  When 
once  there,  the  commanding  general's  familiarity  with  the  country''' 
(his  native  region),  "  or  a  glance  at  the  map,  will  show  that  we  are 
in  possession  of  all  the  railroad  communication  between  Richmond, 
Petersburgh  and  Norfolk,  and  also  of  the  great  shore  line  con- 
necting Virginia  with  North  Carolina,  via  Weldon,  by  which  the 
guns  taken  at  the  navy  yard  will  be  sent  south,  whenever  opera- 
tions in  that  direction  demand. 

"  By  going  eight  and  a  half  miles  further  by  the  Jericho  Canal, 
we  enter  Drummond  Lake,  a  sheet  of  water  some  six  miles  by  four. 
From  this  lake  the  feeders  of  the  Dismal  Swamp  Canal  may  be 
cut,  and  that  means  of  transport  cut  off.  Once  at  Suffolk,  with 
three  lines  of  the  enemy's  communication  cut  off,  Norfolk  must  fall 
with  her  own  weight.  Starvation,  to  be  brought  on  simply  by 
gathering  up  the  provisions  of  Princess  Anne  County,  will  make 
her  batteries  and  the  theft  of  the  navy  yard  guns  substantially 
valueless,  and  will  save  many  lives  which  would  be  otherwise  spent 
in  their  reduction. 

"  I  am  not  insensible  to  the  disadvantages  and  difficulties  of  the 
project,  the  advantages  of  which  I  may  have  painted  with  too  much 
couleur  de  rose. 

"  I  do  not  recognize  as  among  the  most  formidable  the  reduction 
of  Pig  Point  battery,  as  there  is  plenty  of  depth  of  water  within 
point-blank  range,  to  float  the  Cumberland;  but  the  battery  once 
re  luced,  there  must  be  a  pretty  active  march  on  Suffolk  to  prevent 


136  F0ETEESS    MONEOE. 

troublesome  fortifications  there,  which  I  believe  have  not  yet  been 
undertaken, 

"  If  I  am  right  in  the  importance  which  I  attach  to  this  position, 
then  I  must  expect  all  the  force  of  the  rebels,  both  from  Norfolk 
and  Richmond,  brought  thither  by  railroad,  to  be  precipitated  upon 
me,  and  be  prepared  to  meet  it  in  the  open  field.  Could  they  do 
otherwise  ?  Norfolk  would  be  hemmed  in.  Am  I  able  to  with- 
stand such  an  attack,  between  two  forces  which  may  act  in  con- 
junction, with  the  necessary  drafts  from  my  forces  to  keep  open  the 
line  of  communication  by  the  Nansemond  with  Newport  News, 
which  would  then  be  the  right  flank  of  my  base  of  operations  ? 
All  these  questions,  much  more  readily  comprehended  by  the  gene- 
ral-in-chief  than  by  myself,  with  the  thousand  suggestions  that  will 
at  once  present  themselves  to  his  mind,  are  most  respectfully  sub- 
mitted. 

"  May  I  ask  for  full  and  explicit  instructions  upon  the  matter  ?" 

This  was  the  scheme.  It  meant,  Begin  the  war  heee.  Strike  at 
Richmond  from  this  point.  Sever  Virginia  from  the  South,  by 
darting  hence  upon  her  railroad  centers.  Make  war  where  your 
navy  can  co-operate.  Use  the  means  which  God  and  nature  have 
given  you,  and  which  Colonel  Dimmick  preserved.  Don't  sit  there 
in  Washington,  puttering  upon  forts  and  defenses,  listening  anxious- 
ly to  the  roar  from  the  North,  "  On  to  Richmond ;"  but  give  the 
enemy  something  to  do  elsewhere,  far  away  from  your  capital  and 
your  sacred  things,  yet  made  near  to  you  by  your  command  of  the 
sea. 

General  Butler's  plans  might  not  have  been  completely  success- 
ful ;  but  if  they  had  been  adopted  we  should  have  had  no  Bull 
Rim  ;  and,  perhaps,  no  Merrimac — the  true  cause  of  the  failure  of 
the  peninsular  campaign.  Other  disasters  we  might  have  suffered, 
but  surely  nothing  so  bad  as  Bull  Run  and  the  Merrimac,  the  most 
costly  calamities  that  ever  befell  a  country. 

The  reply  to  General  Butler's  eager  dispatches  present  to  us  a 
curious  study.  The  reader  must  make  what  he  can  of  it.  Date, 
June  10th : 

"  Sir, — Your  letters  of  the  1st  and  6th  instant  are  received.  The 
general-in-chief  desires  me  to  say  in  reply,  that  he  highly  com- 
mends your  zeal  and  activity,  which  oblige  the  enemy  to  strengthen 
his  camps  and  posts  in  your  vicinity,  and  hold  him  constantly  on 


FORTRESS    MONROE.  107 

the  alert.  The  principal  value  of  your  movement  upon  Suffolk  is, 
that  it  would  be  the  easiest  route  to  the  Gosport  Navy  Yard,  and 
the  objects  (including  many  ships  of  war)  which  our  people  on  the 
former  occasion  left  undestroyed.  The  possession  of  Norfolk  in  it- 
self is  of  no  importance  whilst  we  blockade  Hampton  Roads  ;  but 
the  destruction  of  the  railroads  leading  from  that  city,  as  far  as  you 
may  find  it  practicable,  would  be  a  valuable  coercive  measure. 
The  naval  commander  should  aid  you  in  the  collection  of  boats, 
and  the  secretary  of  war  has  said  that  he  would  cause  some  eighty 
horses  to  be  bought  and  shipped  to  you  for  a  light  battery." 

These  were  the  "  full  and  explicit  instructions"  for  which  General 
Butler  had  written.  He  must  have  been  puzzled  to  decide  whether 
the  letter  was  designed  to  sanction  or  discourage  his  enterprise. 
Nor  was  it  easy  to  see  what  the  naval  commander  could  do  in  the 
way  of  providing  the  requisite  number  of  boats.  If,  however,  the 
words  of  the  commander-in-chief  were  equivocal,  his  conduct  was 
not.  No  horses  were  sent,  nor  battery  of  field  artillery,  nor  vehicles, 
nor  cavalry,  nor  boats.  No  objection  to  the  railroad,  the  artesian 
well,  the  bake-house,  the  intrenched  camps;  but  whatever  was 
needful  for  an  advance  beyond  half  a  day's  march  was  withheld. 
Such  was  the  scarcity  of  horses  that  the  troops  were  constantly  seen 
drawing  wagon  loads  of  supplies.  A  reporter  writes :  "  A  picture 
in  the  drama  of  the  camp  has  this  moment  passed  my  quarters.  It 
is  a  gang  of  the  Massachusetts  boys  hauling  a  huge  military  wagon, 
loaded.  They  have  struck  up  '  The  Red,  White  and  Blue.'  They 
believe  in  it,  and  consequently  render  it  with  true  patriotic  inspira- 
tion. They  pause  and  give  three  rousing  cheers ;  and  now  they 
dash  off  like  firemen,  which  they  are,  shouting  and  thundering  along 
at  a  pace  that  makes  the  drowsy  horses  they  pass  prick  up  their 
ears."  To  supply  the  most  pressing  occasions,  General  Butler  had 
nine  horses  of  his  own  brought  from  Lowell,  and  these  were  all  he 
had  for  the  public  service  for  more  than  two  months.  Another 
reporter  writes,  June  28th :  "  Among  the  passengers  on  board  the 
steamer  to  the  fortress  was  Colonel  Butler,  brother  of  the  general, 
who  went  to  Washington  last  week  to  get  orders  for  the  purchase 
of  horses,  without  which  not  a  single  step  can  be  made  in  advance, 
simply  because  the  forces  here  are  entirely  destitute  of  the  means 
of  transportation.  He  got  orders  and  succeeded  in  buying  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  very  good  horses,  mainly  in  Baltimore, 


138  FORTRESS   MONROE. 

whereupon  the  government  immediately  sent  up  and  took  one  hun- 
dred of  them  for  the  artillery  service  at  Washington.  This  was 
pretty  sharp  practice,  and  gives  rise  to  comment  on  the  inability  of 
the  authorities  at  the  capital  to  see  anything  but  Washington 
worthy  of  a  moment's  thought  in  connection  with  the  present  war." 

The  state  of  things  certainly  gave  rise  to  comment,  as  the  replies 
of  official  persons  in  Washington  to  General  Butler's  solicitations, 
abundantly  show.  One  gentleman,  who  was  necessarily  acquainted 
with  all  that  was  going  on  at  the  seat  of  government,  expressed 
himself  with  remarkable  freedom  in  a  letter  to  our  general. 

June  8th,  "  I  received  your  letter  and  dispatch,  and,  contrary  to 
your  orders,  I  read  both  to  the  president,  under  the  seal  of  confi- 
dence, however.     I  have  told  him  that would  never  let  you 

have  any  troops  to  make  any  great  blow,  and  I  read  the  dispatch 
to  show  that  I  understood  my  man.    He  intended  to  treat  you  as  he 

did ,  and  as  he  has  always  treated  those  whom  he  knew  would 

be  effective  if  he  gave  them  the  means,  retaining  everything  in  his 
own  power  and  under  his  own  immediate  control,  so  as  to  monop- 
olize all  the  reputation  to  be  made. 

"  I  have  been  a  little  afraid  lest  you  might  attempt  more  than 
your  means  justified,  under  the  impression  that  you  would  other- 
wise disappoint  the  country.  But  I  am  pleased  to  see  that  you 
have  not  made  this  mistake.  You  must  work  on  patiently  till  you 
feel  yourself  able  to  do  the  work  you  attempt,  and  not  play  into 
your  enemies'  hands,  or  those  of  the  miserable  do-nothings  here,  by 
attempting  more  than  in  your  cool  judgment  the  force  you  have  can 
effect.  You  will  gradually  get  the  means,  and  then  you  may  make 
an  effective  blow.  Unfortunately,  indeed,  the  difficulties  increase 
as  your  force  increases,  if  not  more  rapidly.  We  have  forty  thou- 
sand men,  I  believe,  and  provisions  and  transportation  enough  to 
take  them  to  Richmond  any  day,  and  yet  our  lines  do  not  extend 
five  miles  into  Virginia,  where  there  are  not,  in  my  opinion,  men 
enough  *to  oppose  the  march  of  half  the  number  to  Richmond. 
Old  is  at  with  20,000  men,  and  is  moving  as  cau- 
tiously toward  the  Potomac  as  if  the  banks  were  commanded  by  an 
army  of  Bonaparte's  best  legions,  instead  of  a  mob,  composed  for  the 
most  part  of  men  who  only  wait  for  an  opportunity  to  desert  a  flag 
they  detest.  This  war  will  last  for  ever  if  something  does  not  hap- 
pen to  unseat  old . in  the  West,  with  00,000  men  under 


GREAT   BETHEL.  139 

canvas,  has  not  made  a  movement  except  let  a  few  regiments  march 
up  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad,  at  the  urgent  solicitations  of 
the  people.  So  we  go.  Congress  will  probably  catch  us  without 
our  having  performed  any  service  worthy  of  the  great  force  we 
have  under  pay." 

"  I  grumble  this  way  all  the  time,  and  to  every  body,  in  the  hope 
that  I  may  contribute  to  push  on  the  column.  I  am  very  much  in 
hopes  we  shall  be  pushed  into  action  by  the  indignation  of  the  peo- 
ple, if  not  by  our  own  sense  of  what  is  due  to  the  cause  we  have 
taken  in  hand." 


CHAPTER    VII. 


GREAT   BETHEL. 


Whex  this  letter  reached  the  fortress,  General  Butler  was  im- 
mersed in  the  last  details  of  a  movement,  the  result  of  which  was  to 
show  him,  and  show  the  country,  that  sitting  in  an  office  arranging 
a  masterly  plan  of  action  is  one  thing,  and  the  successful  execution 
of  the  same  is  another.  His  correspondent  read  the  answer  to  his 
letter  in  the  newspapers ;  first  with  exultation,  then  with  bewilder- 
ment, lastly  with  dismay.  For  the  news  of  Great  Bethel  came  to 
us  as  so  much  of  the  news  of  the  war  has  come ;  first,  in  enormous 
flattering  lies ;  secondly,  in  exaggerated  contradictory  rumors  of 
disaster ;  finally,  and  gradually,  in  a  dim  resemblance  to  the  truth. 

"  Severe  engagement  near  Fortress  Monroe — Two  hours'  fight 
at  Big  Bethel — Terrible  mistake  of  the  Seventh  and  Third  regi- 
ments— Masked  batteries  of  Rifled  Cannon  open  on  our  troops — 
Twenty-five  killed,  and  one  hundred  wounded — Withdrawal  from 
the  Field — Renewal  of  the  Battle  by  General  Butler — The  Rebel 
Batteries  Captured,  and  One  Thousand  Prisoners  taken." 

Thus  was  the  disaster  first  Heralded.  Then  came  news,  that  our 
unfortunate  regiments  had  been  hurled  upon  a  battery  armed  with 
thirty  pieces  of  rifled  cannon,  protected  in  front  by  an  impassable 
creek,  from  which,  after  standing  "  a  terrific  fire"  for  an  hour  and  a 
half,  they  had  recoiled,  with  a  loss,  variously  stated,  from  twenty- 


140  GREAT   BETHEL. 

five  to  a  hundred.  Other  accounts  assured  us  that  our  men  were 
on  the  point  of  taking  the  battery,  when  an  order  came  from  some 
unknown  source  to  retire. 

The  whole  truth  about  Great  Bethel  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  anywhere  published.  Mr.  Pollard's  rebel  account  is  a  little 
nearer  the  truth  than  any  other  which  I  have  seen;  though,  of 
course,  it  is  distorted  by  the  insanity  of  hatred  common  to  all  our 
"  Southern  brethren."*  Our  "  Southern  brethren"  excel  in  the 
business  of  hating  through  constant  practice.  Mr.  Pollard  would 
have  been  a  man  of  honor  and  truth  if  he  had  been  reared  five  de- 
grees north  of  Richmond.  As  it  is,  he  only  escapes  being  one, 
when  certain  imaginary  beings,  whom  he  names  Yankees,  are  the 
theme  of  his  vigorous  pen. 

The  affair  of  Great  Bethel  happened  thus  : 

The  forced  inaction  of  General  Butler  had  the  effect  of  making 
the  enemy  bolder  in  approaching  his  lines.  They  would  send  par- 
ties from  Yorktown,  who  would  come  down  within  sight  of  the 
Union  pickets  near  Hampton,  and  seize  both  Union  men  and  ne- 
groes, conscripting  the  former,  using  the  latter  on  their  batteries. 
Major  Winthrop,  always  on  the  alert,  learned  from  a  contraband, 
George  Scott  by  name,  that  the  rebels  had  established  themselves 
at  two  points  between  Yorktown  and  the  fort,  where  they  had 
thrown  up  intrenchments,  and  whence  they  nightly  issued,  seizing 
and  plundering.  George  Scott  described  the  localities  with  perfect 
correctness,  and  Winthrop  himself,  accompanied  by  George  repeat- 
edly reconnoitered  the  road  leading  to  them.  On  one  point  only 
was  the  negro  guide  mistaken :  he  thought  the  rebels  were  two 
thousand  in  number;  wheieas,  when  he  saw  them,  five  hundred 
was  about  their  force.  They  had  eleven  or  twelve  hundred  men  in 
the  two  Bethels  on  the  day  of  the  action,  but  not  more  than  five 
hundred  took  part  in  it ;  the  rest  having  arrived,  on  a  run,  from 
Yorktown  while  the  "  battle"  was  proceeding,  and,  before  they  had 
recovered  breath,  it  was  over. 

Major  Winthrop  reported  to  General  Butler,  who  resolved  to  at- 
tempt the  capture  of  the  two  posts.  His  orders  restricted  him  to 
advances  of  half  a  day's  march.  Great  Bethel  being  nine  miles 
distant,  might  be  considered  within  the  limit. 

*  "First  year  of  the  war.1'    New  York  Edition,    p.  77. 


GEE  AT   BETHEL.  141 

Now,  all  was  excitement  and  activity  at  head-quarters — no  one 
bo  happy  as  Winthrop,  who  threw  himself,  heart  and  soul,  into  the 
affair.  The  first  rough  plan  of  the  expedition,  drawn  up  in  his  own 
hand,  lies  before  me;  brief,  hasty,  colloquial,  interlined;  resem- 
bling the  first  sketch  of  an  "  article"  or  a  story ;  such  as,  doubtless, 
he  had  often  dashed  upon  paper  at  Staten  Island. 

PLAN   OF  ATTACK  BY  TWO  DETACHMENTS  UPON  LITTLE 
BETHEL  AND   BIG  BETHEL. 

A  regiment  or  battalion  to  march  from  Newport  News,  and  a  regiment 
to  march  from  Camp  Hamilton — Buryea's.  Each  will  be  supported  by  suf- 
ficient reserves  under  arms  in  camp,  and  with  advanced  guards  out  on  the 
road  of  march. 

Duryea  to  push  out  two  pickets  at  10  p.  m.  ;  one  two  and  a  half  miles 
beyond  Hampton,  on  the  county  road,  but  not  so  far  as  to  alarm  the 
enemy.  This  is  important.  Second  picket  half  as  far  as  the  first.  Both 
pickets  to  keep  as  much  out  of  sight  as  possible.  No  one  whatever  to  be 
allowed  to  pass  out  through  their  lines.  Persons  to  be  allowed  to  pass  in- 
ward toward  Hampton — unless  it  appears  that  they  intend  to  go  rounda- 
bout and  dodge  through  to  the  front. 

At  12,  midnight,  Colonel  Duryea  will  march  his  regiment,  with  fifteen 
rounds  cartridges,  on  the  county  road  towards  Little  Bethel.  Scows  will 
be  provided  to  ferry  them  across  Hampton  Creek.  March  to  be  rapid ; 
hut  not  hurried. 

A  howitzer  with  canister  and  shrapnel  to  go. 

A  wagon  with  planks  and  material  to  repair  the  Newmarket  Bridge. 

Duryea  to  have  the  200  rifles.  He  will  pick  the  men  to  whom  to  intrust 
them. 

Rocket  to  be  thrown  up  from  Newport  News.  Notify  Commodore  Pen- 
dergrast  of  this  to  prevent  general  alarm. 

Newport  News  movement  to  be  made  somewhat  later,  as  the  distance  is 
less. 

If  we  find  the  enemy  and  surprise  them,  men  will  fire  one  volley,  if  desi- 
rable ;  not  reload,  and  go  ahead  with  the  bayonet. 

As  the  attack  is  to  be  by  night,  or  dusk  of  morning,  and  in  two  detach- 
ments, our  people  should  have  some  token,  say  a  white  rag  (or  dirty 
white  rag)  on  the  left  arm. 

Perhaps  the  detachments  who  are  to  do  the  job  should  be  smaller  than  a 
regiment  300  or  500,  as  the  right  and  left  of  the  attack  would  be  more 
easily  handled. 

If  we  bag  the  Little  Bethel  men,  push  on  to  Big  Bethel,  and  similarly 
bag  them.     Burn  both  the  Bethels,  or  blow  up  if  brick. 


142  GEE AT   BETHEL. 

To  protect  our  rear  in  case  we  take  the  field-pieces,  and  the  enemy 
should  march  his  main  body  (if  he  has  any)  to  recover  them,  it  would  be 
well  to  have  a  squad  of  competent  artillerists,  regular  or  other,  to  handle 
the  captured  guns  on  the  retirement  of  our  main  body.  Also  spikes  to 
spike  them,  if  retaken. 

George  Scott  to  have  a  shooting-iron. 

Perhaps  Duryea's  men  would  be  awkward  with  a  new  arm  in  a  night  or 
early  dawn  attack,  where  there  will  be  little  marksman  duty  to  perform. 
Most  of  the  work  will  be  done  with  the  bayonet,  and  they  are  already 
handy  with  the  old  ones. 

"  George  Scott  to  have  a  shooting-iron !"  So,  the  first  sugges- 
tion of  arming  a  black  man  in  this  war  came  from  Theodore  Win- 
throp.     George  Scott  had  a  shooting-iron. 

This  plan,  the  joint  production  of  the  general  and  his  secretary, 
was  substantially  adopted,  and  orders  in  accordance  therewith  were 
issued. 

The  command  of  the  expedition  was  given  to  Brigadier-General 
,E.  W.  Pierce,  of  Massachusetts,  a  brave  and  good  man,  totally 
without  military  experience  except  upon  parade-grounds  on  train- 
ing days.  General  Butler,  as  we  have  before  said,  was  his  junior 
in  the  militia  of  Massachusetts,  and  had  been  selected  by  Governor 
Andrew  to  command  the  first  brigade  which  left  the  state,  over  the 
head  of  General  Pierce,  who  desired  to  go.  It  was  by  way  of 
atonement  to  General  Pierce  for  having  taken  the  place  which  be- 
longed by  seniority  to  him,  that  General  Butler  assigned  him  to  the 
command.  The  motive  was  honorable  to  his  feelings  as  a  man. 
On  Boston  Common  the  act  would  have  been  highly  becoming  and 
quite  unobjectionable.  But,  alas !  the  theater  of  action  was  not 
Boston  Common. 

General  Butler  has  an  eye  for  the  man  he  wants.  This  was  the 
first  time,  and  the  last  time,  in  his  military  career,  that  he  has  se- 
lected an  officer  for  an  independent  command,  for  any  other  reason 
but  a  conviction  that  he  was  the  best  man  at  hand  for  the  duty  to 
be  done.  General  Pierce  was  a  brave  and  good  man ;  reputed  then 
to  be  such ;  since  proved  to  be  such ;  but  he  was  not  the  best  man 
at  hand  for  the  duty  to  be  done.  Out  of  a  good  citizen  you  can  make 
a  good  soldier  in  four  months;  but  a  good  officer  is  a  creature  slowly 
produced.  Seven  years  in  peace,  one  year  in  war,  may  do  it,  but 
he  must  have  served  an  apprenticeship,  before  he  is  fit  to  be  in- 


BATHE    G  HOUND 
OUNTY  BRIDGE 

June  /o'h  /<'SC>L 

Drawn    Vy 

Q.K.  WAHKF-N, 
[•  fknmnl  of  V .  S  .Vohmt<'t*rs 

jtffej 

BATE  RY 


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Dxayee  s 


C 


be  thatoMCt  //■<>///  H(<>  I  In-  bridge 
altoni  half  a  iJi'llr  . 
'mm  <irrbtf'\vt/nn  />> tht  /xillrrs 
bout  300  yards. 


GREAT   BETHEL.  143 

trusted  with  the  lives  of  men  and  the  honor  of  a  country.  The  day 
before  Bethel,  General  Butler  had  the  brains  of  a  general,  the  cour- 
age of  a  general,  the  toughness  of  a  general,  the  technical  knowl- 
edge of  a  general ;  but  to  fit  him  for  independent  command,  he  still 
needed  some  such  harsh  and  bitter  experience  as  now  awaited  him. 
The  day  after  Bethel,  he  had  made  a  prodigious  stride  in  his  mili- 
tary education,  for  he  is  a  man  who  can  take  a  hint.  The  whole 
secret  of  war  was  revealed  in  the  flash  and  thunder,  the  disaster 
and  shame,  of  that  sorry  skirmish. 

All  went  well  until  near  the  dawn  of  day,  June  10th,  when  the 
forces  were  to  form  their  junction  near  Little  Bethel.  There  Colo- 
nel Bendix's  regiment  saw  approaching  over  the  crest  of  a  low  hill 
what  seemed,  in  the  magnifying  dusk,  a  body  of  cavalry.  It  was 
Colonel  Townsend's  regiment  which  they  saw.  Knowing  that 
General  Butler  had  no  cavalry,  Colonel  Bendix  concluded,  of  course, 
that  they  were  a  body  of  mounted  rebels.  The  fatal  order  was 
given  to  fire,  and  ten  of  Colonel  Townsend's  men  fell ;  two  killed 
and  eight  wounded.  The  fire  was  returned  in  a  desultory  manner, 
without  loss  to  the  regiment  of  Colonel  Bendix.  Of  the  confusion 
that  followed,  the  double-quick  counter-marching,  the  alarm  to 
friends  and  foes,  I  need  not  speak.  The  dawn  of  day  revealed  the 
error,  and  then  the  question  arose,  whether  to  advance  or  to  return 
to  the  fortress.  A  surprise  was  no  longer  possible,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country  concurred  in  stating  the  force  of  the  enemy 
at  four  or  five  thousand,  with  formidable  artillery.  Colonel 
Duryea  had  already  captured  the  picket  at  Little  Bethel.  The 
enemy,  therefore,  fully  warned,  must  be  concentrated  at  Great 
Bethel.  Major  Winthrop  and  Lieutenant  Butler,  both  of  the  com- 
manding general's  staff,  united  in  most  earnestly  advising  an  ad- 
vance, and  General  Pierce  gave  no  reluctant  assent.  He  had  sent 
back  for  re-enforcements  which  were  soon  on  the  march  to  join  him. 

At  half  past  nine,  he  had  arrived  within  a  mile  of  the  enemy,  with 
two  regiments  and  four  pieces  of  cannon  of  small  caliber,  one  of 
which  was  the  gun  of  Lieutenant  Greble  of  the  regular  artillery. 
Two  other  regiments  were  approaching.  The  ground  may  be 
roughly  described  thus:  An  oblong  piece  of  open  country,  sur- 
rounded on  three  sides  by  woods,  General  Pierce  entering  at  the 
end  where  there  was  no  wood.  The  enemy's  position  was  near  the 
upper  end,  but  behind  a  strip  of  wood  which  concealed  it.     It 


144  GREAT   BETHEL. 

was,  in  some  slight  degree,  protected  in  front  by  a  creek  twelve 
feet  wide  and  three  deep.  Their  battery  consisted  of  four  pieces 
of  field  artillery,  one  of  which  becoming  disabled  through  the  dis- 
arrangement of  the  trigger-apparatus,  was  useless.  The  earth- 
works, hastily  thrown  up  in  front  of  the  guns,  added  scarcely  any 
strength  to  the  position,  for  they  were  less  than  three  feet  high 
on  the  outside.  A  boy  ten  years  old  could  have  leaped  over  them ; 
a  boy  ten  years  old  could  have  waded  the  creek.  The  breastworks 
were,  in  fact,  so  low  that  the  wheels  of  the  enemy's  guns  were 
embedded  in  the  earth,  in  order  to  get  the  carriages  low  enough  to 
be  protected.  These  facts  I  learn  from  a  Union  officer  of  high  rank, 
who  afterward  became  familiar  with  the  ground.  Behind  these 
trivial  works  were  five  hundred  rebel  troops,  who  were  re-enforced 
while  the  action  was  going  on  with  six  hundred  more  from  York- 
town,  thoroughly  blown  with  running.  This  was  the  real  strength 
of  the  enemy,  whom  General  Pierce  firmly  believed  to  consist  of 
four  or  five  thousand  troops  strongly  posted,  and  well  supplied  with 
artillery. 

General  Pierce  and  his  command  then  stood,  at  half-past  nine, 
on  the  high  road  leading  from  Hampton  to  Yorktown,  a  mile  from 
the  enemy,  whose  battery  commanded  the  road.  That  battery  was 
so  placed  that  it  could  have  been  approached  within  fifty  yards 
without  the  attacking  party  leaving  the  woods.  Nor  was  there  any 
serious  obstacle  to  turning  it  either  on  the  right  or  on  the  left. 
This  not  being  immediately  perceived,  Colonel  Duryea  and  Lieuten- 
ant Greble  marched  along  the  high  road  into  the  enemy's  fire,  and 
soon  the  cannon  balls  began  to  play  over  their  heads,  falling  far  to 
the  rear.  The  men  gave  three  cheers  and  kept  on  their  way. 
Soon,  however,  the  enemy  fired  better,  and  some  men  were  struck ; 
not  many,  for  the  total  loss  of  Colonel  Duryea's  regiment  that  day 
was  four  killed,  and  twelve  wounded.  To  these  troops,  in  theii 
inexperience,  it  seemed  that  work  of  this  kind  could  not  be  down 
in  the  programme.  They  also  received  the  impression  that  the 
enemy's  three  pieces  of  cannon  were  thirty  at  least,  and  that,  upon 
the  whole^  this  was  not  the  right  road  to  the  battery.  So  they 
sidled  off  into  the  woods,  and  there  remained  waiting  for  some  one 
to  tell  them  what  to  do  next.  Greble  kept  on  to  a  point  three  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  enemy,  where  he  planted  his  gun,  and  main- 
tained a  steady  and  effective  fire  upon  them  for  an  hour  and  a  half. 


GliEAT   BETHEL.  145 

I  say  effective.  It  did  not  kill  a  rebel ;  but  it  had  the  effect  of  keep- 
ing them  within  their  works,  and  giving  them  the  idea  that  they 
were  attacked. 

After  Colonel  Duryea  had  retired  to  the  woods,  there  was  a  long 
pause  in  the  operations,  during  which  a  good  plan  was  matured 
for  turning  the  enemy's  battery,  and  getting  in  behind  it.  It  was 
agreed  that  Colonel  Townsend  should  keep  well  away  to  the  left, 
near  the  wood,  or  through  the  wood,  and  go  on  to  the  Yorktown 
road  beyond  the  battery ;  then  turn  down  upon  it,  and  dash  in. 
Colonel  Duryea  and  Colonel  Bendix  were  to  march  through  the 
woods  on  the  right,  and  penetrate  to  the  same  road  below  the  bat* 
tery,  and  then  rush  in  upon  it  simultaneously  with  Colonel  Town- 
send.  It  was  an  excellent  and  most  feasible  scheme,  certain  of 
success  if -executed  with  merely  tolerable  vigor  and  resolution. 
Colonel  Duryea  again  advanced,  this  time  through  the  woods.  He 
went  as  far  as  the  creek,  and  concluding  it  to  be  impassable  by  his 
"  Zouaves,"  retired  a  second  time,  with  some  trifling  loss ;  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Warren,  and  a  few  brave  men  remaining  long  enough  to 
bring  away  the  body  and  the  gun  of  poor  Greble,  shot  by  the  ene- 
my's last  discharge.  Meanwhile  Colonel  Townsend  was  making 
his  way  far  on  the  other  side  of  the  road.  He  was  going  straight 
to  victory ;  Major  Winthrop  among  the  foremost,  full  of  ardor  and 
confidence,  and  the  men  in  good  heart.  In  five  minutes  more  he 
would  have  gained  a  position  on  the  Yorktown  road  beyond  the 
battery,  from  which  they  could  have  marched  upon  the  enemy,  as 
in  an  open  field.  Then  occurred  a  fatal  mistake.  In  the  haste  of 
the  start,  two  companies  of  the  regiment  had  marched  on  the  other 
side  of  a  stone  fence  ;  and,  anxious  to  get  forward,  were  coming 
up  to  the  front  at  some  distance  from  the  main  body  in  the  open 
field.  Colonel  Townsend  seeing  these  troops,  supposed  that  they 
were  a  body  of  the  enemy  coming  out  to  attack  him  in  flank.  He 
ordered  a  halt,  and  then  returned  to  the  point  of  departure  to  meet 
this  imaginary  foe,  Winthrop,  as  is  supposed,  did  not  hear  the 
order  to  retire.  With  a  few  troops  he  still  pressed  on,  and  when 
they  halted,  still  advanced,  and  reached  a  spot  thirty  yards  from 
the  enemy's  battery.  With  one  companion,  private  John  M.  Jones 
of  Vermont,  he  sprang  upon  a  log  to  get  a  view  of  the  position, 
which  he  alone  that  day  clearly  saw.  A  ball  pierced  his  brain. 
He  almost  instantly  breathed  his  last.     His  body  being  left  on  the 


146 


GBEAT    BETHEL. 


field  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  foe.  In  their  opinion,  he  was  the 
only  man  in  the  Union  force  who  displayed  "  even  an  approxima- 
tion to  courage,"  .and  they  gave  his  remains  the  honorable  burial 
due  to  the  body  of  a  hero,  and  returned  his  watch  and  other  effects 
to  his  commanding  officer. 

General  Pierce,  with  the  advice  of  all  the  colonels  except  Col 
Duryee,  gave  the  order  to  retire !  and  so  the  "  battle"  of  Great 
Bethel  ended.  Some  of  the  companies  retired  in  tolerable  order. 
But  there  was  a  great  deal  of  panic  and  precipitation,  though  the 
pursuit  was  late  and  languid.  The  noble  Chaplain  Winslow  and 
the  brave  Lieutenant-Colonel  G.  K.  Warren,*  with  a  few  other 
firm  men,  remained  behind ;  and,  all  exhausted  as  they  were,  drew 
the  wounded  in  wagons  nine  miles,  from  the  scene  of  the  action  to 
the  nearest  camp. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Warren  reports; 

"  I  remained  on  the  ground  about  an  hour  after  all  the  force  had 
left.  As  Colonel  Carr  retired,  Captain  Wilson,  of  his  regiment, 
carried  off  the  gun  at  which  Lieutenant  Greble  had  been  killed,  but 
left  the  limber  behind.  I  withdrew  this  along  with  Lieutenant 
Greble's  body,  assisted  by  Lieutenant  Duncan  and  twelve  men  of 
the  ~N.  Y.  First,  and  sent  it  on  to  join  the  piece.  I  remained  with 
Chaplain  Winslow,  and  a  few  men  of  the  N.  Y.  Third,  Fifth,  and 
Seventh,  getting  the  wounded  together,  whom  we  put  into  carts  and 
wagons,  and  drew  off  by  hand.  There  were  three  or  four  mortally 
wounded  and  several  dead,  whom  we  had  to  leave  from  inability  to 
carry  them.  I  sent  several  messengers  to  get  assistance ;  and  as 
we  moved  slowly,  finding  no  one,  I  pushed  ahead  as  fast  as  I  could 
go  on  foot  (having  given  the  animal  I  rode  to  a  wounded  man) .  I 
overtook  none  but  the  worn-out  stragglers  till  I  came  up  to  Captain 
Kapff,  of  the  N.  Y.  Seventh,  who  with  seven  or  eight  men  stopped, 
as  also  did  Captain  McNutt  of  the  Second,  detailed  by  Colonel 
Carr.  They  both  rendered  essential  service  in  checking  the  advance 
of  the  enemy's  horsemen,  who  finally  came  on  and  pursued  up  to 
New  Market  Bridge. 

"  The  noble  conduct  of  Chaplain  Winslow,  and  the  generous- 
hearted  men  who  remained  behind  to  help  the  wounded,  deserves 
the  highest  praise ;  and  the  toilsome  task  which  they  accomplished 


*  Since  brigadier-general  and  chief  of  staff  to  General  Meade — distinguished  on  many  fields, 
particularly  at  the  battles  in  Pennsylvania  in  June,  1863. 


GREAT  BETHEL.  14  V 

of  dragging  the  rude  vehicles,  filled  with  their  helpless  comrades, 
over  a  weary  road  of  nine  miles  in  their  exhausted  condition,  with 
the  prospect  of  an  attack  every  minute,  bespeak  a  goodness  of  heart 
and  a  bravery  never  excelled.  Besides  the  wounded  and  dead  left 
behind,  there  were  a  number  of  canteens  and  haversacks,  and  a  few 
muskets  and  bayonets,  all  of  which  I  think  was  caused  by  a  mis- 
understanding. Our  regiment  did  not  think  we  were  going  back 
more  than  a  few  hundred  yards  to  rest  a  little,  out  of  fire,  and  then 
make  another  attack.  There  was  no  pursuing  force,  or  the  least 
excuse  for  precipitancy.  No  shots  were  fired  at  the  little  party 
who  carried  away  the  limber  of  Lieutenant  Greble's  gun,  and  the 
long  while  which  elapsed  without  any  one  appearing  in  front  of  the 
enemy's  lines,  would  indicate  that  he  was  very  weak  in  numbers, 
or  perhaps  had  begun  to  retire.  The  force  which  the  enemy 
brought  into  action  was  not,  I  think,  greater  than  500  men.  His 
great  advantage  over  us  was  artillery  protected  from  our  fire.  I 
still  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  position,  as  we  found  it,  was  not 
difficult  to  take  with  experienced  troops,  and  could  have  been 
turned  on  our  left.  The  trees  protected  our  approach,  and  sheltered 
us  from  their  battery  till  we  were  quite  close,  and  the  march  in 
front  was  practicable  for  footmen.  We  labored  under  great  disad- 
vantage in  want  of  experience  in  firing,  and  in  the  exhaustion  of 
our  men  from  want  of  sleep,  long  marching,  and  hunger. 

"  The  enemy  had  a  rifled  gun  or  two,  shooting  bolts  of  about  the 
caliber  of  four-pounders,  and  eight  inches  long,  with  soft  metal  base ; 
some  of  them  were  hollow,  with  a  Boarman  fuse  at  the  point,  and 
all  did  not  burst.  Some  of  their  twelve-pounder  shells  also  failed 
to  explode.  There  were  probably  three  to  five  guns  sheltered  by 
a  breastwork,  and  one  or  two  that  were  moved  around  to  different 
points. 

"  The  breastwork  was  placed  so  that  the  guns  enfiladed  the  little 
bridge.  The  gun  placed  to  sweep  the  long  reach  of  road  before 
you  came  to  the  bridge  was  driven  away  by  Lieutenant  Greble's 
fire,  which  prevented  our  loss  from  being  far  greater  than  it  was. 
The  skill  and  bravery  displayed  by  Lieutenant  Greble  could  not 
have  been  surpassed ;  and  the  fortune  which  protected  him  from 
the  enemy's  fire  only  deserted  him  at  the  last  moment.  The 
discharge  which  killed  him  was  one  of  the  last  made  by  the 
enemy's  guns.  His  own  guns  were  never  silenced  by  the  enemy's 
7 


148  CONSEQUENCES  OF  GBEAT  BETHEL. 


' 


fire,  and  the   occasional  pauses   were   to  husband  his   ammuni- 
tion." 

The  Union  loss  in  killed  and  permanently  disabled  was  twenty- 
five.  The  rebel  loss,  one  man  killed  and  three  wounded.  A  few 
hours  after  the  action,  Great  Bethel  was  evacuated.  If  General 
Pierce  had  withdrawn  his  men  out  of  fire,  and  caused  them  to  sit 
down  and  eat  their  dinner,  it  is  highly  probable  the  enemy  would 
have  retreated ;  for  they  were  greatly  outnumbered,  and  were  per- 
fectly aware  that  one  regiment  of  steady  and  experienced  troops, 
led  by  a  man  who  knew  his  business,  could  have  taken  them  all 
prisoners  in  twenty  minutes.  For  the  most  part,  our  men,  I  am 
assured,  behaved  as  well  as  could  have  been  expected.  All  they 
wanted  was  commanders  who  knew  what  was  the  right  thing  to 
do,  and  who  would  go  forward  and  show  them  how  to  do  it.  One 
well-compacted,  well-sustained  rush  from  any  point  of  approach, 
and  the  battery  had  been  theirs. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

m  CONSEQUENCES  OF  GBEAT  BETHEL. 

Great  Bethel  was  a  trifling  skirmish ;  but,  occurring  just  when  it 
did,  it  was  a  calamity.  It  was  the  first  shock  of  arms  between  the 
belligerents,  and  gave  the  key-note  to  at  least  the  overture  of  the 
war — the  first  campaign.  Splendid  fighting  has  since  been  done, 
and  a  great  deal  of  it.  There  has,  also,  been  much  bad  fighting, 
many  ill-concerted  movements,  much  misconduct  on  the  part  of 
officers,  some  shameful  flights  and  panics.  It  does  not  appear  cer- 
tain that  we  have  yet  learned  to  comply  with  all  the  fundamental 
conditions  of  successful  war.  We  still  seem  capable,  occasionally, 
of  starting  back  in  affright  from  phantoms,  instead  of  marching 
forward  and  preventing  phantoms  from  becoming  realities.  We 
all  know  what  allowances  were  to  be  made  for  these  Bethel  regi- 
ments. We  knew  how  they  had  left  their  counting-rooms  and 
shops  for  a  long  frolic  at  soldiering,  with  officers  who  were,  per- 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  GEEAT  BETHEL.  149 

haps,  more  ignorant  of  their  new  profession  than  if  they  had  never 
shone  on  parade,  or  distinguished  themselves  in  the  drill  room. 
There  is  a  kind  of  knowledge  which  deludes  more  than  total  igno- 
rance, since  it  seems  to  conceal  our  ignorance  from  ourselves  and 
from  others. 

It  was  rather  surprising  than  otherwise  that  the  first  fighting  of 
the  war  was  done  as  well  as  it  was  done,  since  all  the  influences  of 
our  education  and  business  had  long  tended  to  abate  that  exuber- 
ance of  spirit,  that  confidence  in  our  strength,  which  makes  men 
mighty  to  dare  and  to  overcome.  The  training  which  diminishes  a 
man's  fighting  power  is  not  culture,  but  effeminacy. 

But  if  we  had  not  learned  the  true  secret  of  successful  warfare, 
we  are  learning  it ;  we  shall  learn  it.  Much  creditable  fighting  has 
been  done  by  the  Union  armies.  But,  contending  as  we  are  with  a 
desperate  foe,  our  armies  must  acquire  the  coherency  which  is  only 
obtained  by  supplying  them  with  officers  whose  superiority  of 
knowledge  will  command  the  confidence  of  the  men  in  critical 
moments.  For  many  a  year  to  come,  perhaps,  the  elite  of  the  young 
men  of  America  will  have  to  be  bred  to  arms  as  a  profession. 

The  day  after  Bethel  was  a  sad  one  at  Fortress  Monroe.  Lieu- 
tenant Greble's  father  was  on  his  way  to  visit  his  son,  and  arrived 
cnly  to  take  back  his  remains  to  his  family,  followed  by  the  sorrow 
of  the  whole  command.  The  fate  of  Winthrop  was  not  yet  known ; 
he  was  reported  only  among  the  "  missing."  Before  leaving  head- 
quarters he  had  borrowed  a  gun  of  the  general,  saying,  gayly, 
a  I  may  want  to  take  a  pop  at  them."  In  the  course  of  the  morn- 
ing, this  gun  was  brought  in,  with  such  information  as  led  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  must  have  fallen ;  perhaps,  thrown  his  life  pur- 
posely away.  During  his  short  residence  at  head-quarters  he  had 
endeared  himself  to  all  hearts ;  to  none  more  than  to  the  general 
and  Mrs.  Butler.  He  was  mourned  as  a  brother  by  those  who  had 
known  him  but  sixteen  days. 

As  Mr.  Curtis  beautifully  says  in  his  fine  sketch  of  his  friend's  ca- 
reer, "  Theodore  Winthrop's  life,  like  a  fire  long  smoldering,  sud- 
denly blazed  up  into  a  clear  bright  flame,  and  vanished.  Descended 
from  John  Winthrop  and  Jonathan  Edwards,  numbering  among 
his  ancestors  seven  presidents  of  Yale  College,  of  which  he  was  him- 
self a  distinguished  graduate,  with  fine  gifts,  powerful  friends,  good 
opportunities,  he  lived  thirty-three  years  vithout  finding  work  that 


150 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  GREAT  BETHEL. 


could  absorb  and  content  him,  unless  it  were  literature,  and  for  that 
he  seemed  to  lack  the  something — bodily  stamina,  confidence  in  his 
powers,  force  of  ambition  or  pressure  of  necessity — which  could 
convert  his  longing  into  a  career.  His  desk  was  full  of  manuscripts, 
since  rightly  valued;  but  his  name  was  unknown  to  the  public  till 
he  wrote  the  story  of  the  march  of  the  Seventh  regiment.  It  was 
not  force  of  vitality  that  he  wanted.  He  had  been  everywhere, 
seen  everything ;  walked  over  Scotland,  Italy,  Switzerland ;  ridden 
over  our  western  plains  and  deserts.  A  short,  slight,  most  active 
figure.  "Often,"  says  Mr.  Curtis,  "after  writing  for  a  few  hours 
in  the  morning,  he  stepped  out  of  doors,  and,  from  pure  love  of  the 
fun,  leaped  and  turned  summersets  upon  the  grass,  before  going 
up  to  town.  In  walking  about  Staten  Island,  he  constantly  stopped 
by  the  roadside  fences,  and,  grasping  the  highest  rail,  swung  him- 
self swiftly  and  neatly  over  and  back  again,  resuming  the  walk  and 
the  talk  without  delay."  Overwork  at  school  and  college  had 
robbed  him  of  that  unchecked  growth  without  which  there  can  be 
no  sustained  fullness  of  endeavor.  Unlearning  what  he  had  learned 
amiss,  learning  essential  things  of  which  the  schools  had  given  him 
no  hint,  chasing  the  world  over  after  health — so  passed  the  years 
of  his  maturity. 

To  the  mother  of  his  dead  comrade,  General  Butler  addressed 
the  following  letter: 


"  Head-quarters  Department  of  Virginia, 
"JunelSth,  1861. 

"  My  Dear  Madam  : — The  newspapers  have  anticipated  me  in  the  sorrow- 
ful intelligence  which  I  have  to  communicate.  Your  son  Theodore  is  no 
more.  He  fell  mortally  wounded  from  a  rifle  shot,  at  County  Bridge.  I 
have  conversed  with  private  John  M.  Jones,  of  the  ISTorthfield  company  in 
the  Vermont  regiment,  who  stood  beside  Major  Winthrop  when  he  fell, 
and  supported  him  in  his  arms. 

"  Your  son's  death  was  in  a  few  moments,  without  apparent  anguish. 
After  Major  Winthrop  had  delivered  the  order  with  which  he  was  charged, 
to  the  commander  of  the  regiment,  he  took  his  rifle,  and  while  his  guide 
held  his  horse  in  the  woods  in  the  rear,  with  too  daring  bravery,  went  to 
the  front ;  while  there,  stepping  upon  a  log  to  get  a  full  view  of  the  force, 
he  received  the  fatal  shot.  His  friend,  Colonel  Wardrop,  of  Massachusetts, 
had  loaned  him  a  sword  for  the  occasion,  on  which  his  name  was  marked 
in  full,  so  that  he  was  taken  by  the  enemy  for  the  colonel  himself. 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  GREAT  BETHEL.  151 

"Major  Winthrop  had  advanced  so  close  to  the  parapet,  that  it  was  not 
thought  expedient  by  those  in  command  to  send  forward  any  party  to  bring 
off  the  body,  and  thus  endanger  the  lives  of  others  in  the  attempt  to  secure 
his  remains,  as  the  rebels  remorselessly  fired  upon  all  the  small  parties  that 
went  forward  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  off  their  wounded  comrades. 

"  Had  your  gallant  son  been  alive,  I  doubt  not  he  would  have  advised 
this  course  in  regard  to  another.  I  have  assurances  from  the  officer  in  com- 
mand of  the  rebel  forces  at  County  Bridge,  that  Major  Winthrop  received 
at  their  hand  a  respectful  and  decent  burial. 

"  His  personal  effects  found  upon  him,  will  be  given  up  to  my  flag  of 
truce,  with  the  exception  of  his  watch,  which  has  been  sent  to  Yorktown, 
and  which  I  am  assured  will  be  returned  through  me  to  yourself. 

"  I  have  given  thus  particularly  these  sad  details,  because  I  know  and  have 
experienced  the  fond  inquiries  of  a  mother's  heart  respecting  her  son's  acts. 

"My  dear  madam!  although  a  stranger,  my  tears  will  flow  withyonrs  in 
grief  for  the  loss  of  your  brave  and  too  gallant  son,  my  true  friend  and  brother. 

'k  I  had  not  known  him  long,  but  his  soldierly  qualities,  his  daring  cour- 
age, his  true-hearted  friendship,  his  genuine  sympathies,  his  cultivated 
mind,  his  high  moral  tone,  all  combined  to  so  win  me  to  him,  that  he  had 
twined  himself  about  my  heart  with  the  cords  of  a  brother's  love. 

"  The  very  expedition  which  resulted  so  unfortunately  for  him,  made  him 
all  the  more  dear  to  me.  Partly  suggested  by  himself,  he  entered  into  the 
necessary  preparations  for  it  with  such  alacrity,  cool  judgment,  and  careful 
foresight,  in  all  the  details  that  might  render  it  successful,  as  gave  great 
promise  of  future  usefulness  in  his  chosen  profession.  When,  in  answer  to 
his  request  to  be  permitted  to  go  with  it,  I  suggested  to  him  that  my  cor- 
respondence was  very  heavy,  and  he  would  be  needed  at  home,  he  play- 
fully replied :  '  O  general,  we  will  all  work  extra  hours,  and  make  that  up 
when  we  get  back.  The  affair  can't  go  on  without  me,  you  know.'  The 
last  words  I  heard  him  say  before  his  good-night,  when  we  parted,  were, 
'  If  anything  happens,  I  have  given  my  mother's  address  to  Mr.  Green.' 
His  last  thoughts  were  with  his  mother ;  his  last  acts  were  for  his  country 
and  her  cause. 

"  I  have  used  the  words  '  unfortunate  expedition  for  him !'  Nay,  not  so  ; 
too  fortunate  thus  to  die  doing  his  duty,  his  whole  duty,  to  his  country,  as 
a  hero,  and  a  patriot.  Unfortunate  to  us  only  who  are  left  to  mourn  the 
loss  to  ourselves  and  our  country. 

u  Permit  me,  madam,  in  the  poor  degree  I  may,  to  take  such  a  place  in 
your  heart  that  we  may  mingle  our  griefs,  as  we  already  do  our  love  and 
admiration  for  him  who  has  only  gone  before  ns  to  that  better  world  where, 
through  the  '  merits  of  Him  who  suffered  for  us,'  we  shall  all  meet  together. 
"  Most  sincerely  and  affectionately, 

"Yours,  Benj.  F.  Butlee." 


152  CONSEQUENCES  OF  GEEAT  BETHEL. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  add  to  this  just  and  affecting  tribute, 
a  note  addressed  by  the  sister  of  the  deceased  officer  to  Mrs.  Butler : 

"Staten  Island,  June  10  th,  1861. 

"Dear  Mes.  Butlek: — I  can  not  let  this  opportunity  pass  without  ex- 
pressing my  gratitude  to  you,  and  General  Butler,  for  your  great  kindness 
to  my  dear  brother,  and  for  your  tenderness  to  us  in  our  grief.  It  is  a  great 
comfort  to  us  to  know  that  we  have  your  sympathy  ;  to  know  that  you 
valued  Theodore,  and  appreciated  him.  We  must  always  feel  a  warm 
friendship  for  you  and  yours,  with  whom  he  spent  the  last  weeks  of  his  life, 
the  most  eventful,  the  most  useful,  and  the  happiest,  perhaps,  he  had  ever 
spent.  You  know  in  some  degree  what  we  have  lost,  and  I  trust  we  shall 
one  day  meet  as  friends,  and  talk  of  things  of  the  deepest  interest  to  us,  and 
which  I  am  sure  are  not  without  interest  to  you.  It  does  make  us  stronger 
to  bear  our  sorrow,  when  we  think  of  the  cause  for  which  our  dear  brother 
died ;  a  cause  long  dear  to  us  all,  and  now  far  dearer  than  ever.  I  trust  our 
country  will  be  nobler  and  worthier  than  ever  of  our  love,  after  this  dark 
hour  of  trial  is  past.  May  she  not  have,  like  Rachel,  to  weep  for  many 
more  of  her  children.  Yet  truth  and  freedom  can  not  be  too  dearly  bought, 
by  blood  and  tears. 

"It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  us  to  know  from  Theodore's  letters,  that 
some  of  the  last  acts  of  his  life  were  kindnesses  to  an  oppressed  race,  a  race 
he  never  forgot,  as  a  part  of  the  Nation  whose  battle  he  fought. 

"  My  mother  and  sisters  join  with  me  in  affectionate  remembrances,  and 
in  the  hope  of  expressing  in  person  at  some  future  time  our  heartfelt  grati- 
tude, our  interest  and  friendship  for  you  as  well  as  General  Butler,  whose 
career  we  watch  with  warm  interest  and  admiration.     Yours  affectionately, 

"Lauea  W.  Johnson." 

I  must  not  leave  this  melancholy  subject  without  mentioning  the 
noble,  and,  I  believe,  unique  atonement  made  by  General  Pierce 
for  whatever  errors  he  may  have  committed  at  Great  Bethel.  He 
served  out  his  term  of  three  months  in  such  extreme  sorrow  as 
almost  to  threaten  his  reason.  He  then  enlisted  as  a  private  in  a 
three  years  regiment,  and  served  for  some  time  in  that  honorable 
lowliness.  Appointed,  at  length,  to  the  command  of  a  regiment, 
he  served  with  distinction  through  the  campaign  of  the  peninsula, 
where,  in  one  of  the  battles,  he  was  severely  w^ounded. 

General  Butler,  as  we  all  remember,  did  not  escape  the  censures 
of  the  press  on  this  occasion.  He  was  frequently  favored  with 
comments  like  the  following  : 

"  Men  can  not  be  required  to  stand  in  front  of  a  rampart,  thirty 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  GEEAT  BETHEL.  153 

feet  from  the  muzzles  of  mounted  guns,  loaded  with  grape,  and 
canister,  and  musket-balls,  doing  nothing.  When  they  are  com- 
manded to  march  through  fire,  and  reach  the  ditch,  they  must  be 
provided  with  the  means  to  cross  it,  or  jump  into  it,  and  sticking 
their  bayonets  into  the  slope  of  the  scarp,  form  with  them  ladders 
by  means  of  which  the  more  active  can  mount  the  parapet.  But 
before  men  are  sent  into  a  position — recollecting  that  every  ditch 
will  be  swept  by  a  flank  fire — they  must  not  only  be  instructed  in 
their  duties,  but  supported  by  a  steady  fire  upon  the  enemy.  Ad- 
vantage must  be  taken  of  darkness  or  the  weather ;  false  assaults 
must  be  made  in  conjunction  with  the  true  one,  and  so  supported, 
too,  that  the  false  attack  may,  if  circumstances  favor  it,  be  followed 
up  and  made  the  real  one." 

Indeed,  the  great  calamity  of  Bethel  was,  that  it  concealed  from 
the  country  for  a  time  the  merit  of  the  man  who,  more  than  most, 
was  able  to  give  it  the  service  it  needed.  The  country  wanted  a 
man  who  could  not  be  scared  by  phantoms,  and  whose  energy  and 
talents  could  keep  phantoms  from  growing  into  grim  realities.  The 
man  was  at  hand,  but  imperfectly  recognized.  A  complete  success 
at  Great  Bethel,  added  to  the  fame  of  Baltimore  and  Annapolis, 
would  have  given  General  Butler  a  position  before  the  country 
which  could  not  have  been  disregarded.  The  failure  there  nearly 
cost  him  a  rejection  by  the  senate.  He  was  saved  by  two  votes 
only,  and  that  bare  majority  he  owed  to  the  friendly  exertions  of 
that  Colonel  Baker  whose  life  was  squandered  at  Ball's  Bluff. 
Colonel  Baker  had  served  with  his  regiment  at  Fortress  Monroe. 

An  interesting  correspondence  between  General  Butler  and  Colo- 
nel Magruder,  shows  us  that  the  question  of  the  exchange  of  pris- 
oners was  not  regarded  as  a  difficult  one,  at  that  stage  of  the  war, 
by  either  of  those  officers.  Colonel  Magruder  had  been  an 
acquaintance  of  General  Butler  in  happier  times.  They  had  last 
met,  I  believe,  at  a  ball  at  Newport : 

COLONEL   MAGEUDEE   TO    GENEBAL   BUTLEE. 

"  Head-Quaetees,  Yoektown,  Viegistia,  June  12th,  1861. 
"Majoe-Geneeal  B.  F.  Butlee,  Commanding  Fortress  Monroe,  &c. 

"Sie: — Our  people  had  orders  to  bring  any  communications  intended 
for  the  commander  of  the  forces  at  '  County  Bridge'  or  Bethel  to  this  place, 
and  by  a  particular  route — hence  the  delay. 


154  CONSEQUENCES  OF  GEE  AT  BETHEL. 

"I  understood  from  Captain  Davies,  the  bearer  of  the  flag,  that  yon  have 
four  prisoners,  to  wit:  One  trooper  and  three  citizens;  Messrs.  Carter, 
"Whiting,  Lively  and  Mariam,  the  latter  three  being  citizens  of  Virginia,  in 
your  possession  ;  and  you  state  that  you  are  desirous  to  exchange  them  for 
a  corresponding  number  of  federal  troops,  who  are  prisoners  with  me.  I 
accept  your  offer,  so  far  as  the  trooper,  who  was  a  vidette,  in  question,  ancV 
will  send  to-morrow,  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  if  it  will  suit  your 
convenience,  a  federal  soldier  in  exchange  for  him.  With  respect  to  the 
wounded,  my  first  care  was  to  have  them  attended  to.  Medical  advice  and 
careful  nursing  have  been  provided,  and  your  dead  I  had  buried  on  the  field 
of  battle,  and  this  was  done  in  sight  of  the  conflagration  which  was  devas- 
tating the  homes  of  our  citizens. 

"  The  citizens  in  your  possession  are  men  who  doubtless  defended  their 
homes  against  a  foe  who,  to  their  certain  knowledge,  had,  with  or  without 
the  authority  of  the  federal  government,  destroyed  the  private  property  of 
their  neighbors,  breaking  up  even  the  pianos  of  the  ladies,  and  committing 
depredations,  numberless  and  of  every  description.  The  federal  prisoners, 
if  agreeable  to  you,  will  be  sent  to  or  near  Hampton,  by  a  sergeant,  who 
will  receive  the  vidette  (Carter)  who  was  captured  by  your  troops.  I  do 
not  think  a  more  formal  proceeding  necessary,  you  having  but  one  pris- 
oner, and  he  not  taken  in  battle. 

"  If  my  proposition  to  deliver  one  federal  prisoner  at  or  near  Hampton  in 
charge  of  a  sergeant,  to  be  exchanged  for  private  Carter,  the  captured  vi- 
dette, be  accepted,  please  inform  me  or  the  officer  in  command  at  Bethel 
church,  and  it  shall  be  done. 

"  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  gentlemen  who  bear  your  flag 
have  been  received  with  every  courtesy  by  our  citizens,  as  well  as  our- 
selves.    I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"J  Bankhead  Magetjdee,  Colonel  Commanding." 


geneeal  butlee  to  colonel  mageudee. 

Head-Quabtees  Depaetment  of  Viegenia, 
Foeteess  Moneoe,  June  \2>ih,  1861. 
*  Colonel  J.  B.  Mageudee,  Commanding  Forces  at  Yorktown. 

"  Sie  : — Your  favor  of  June  12,  by  Captain  Davies,  with  a  flag  of  truce,  was 
this  morning  received.  I  desire  first  to  thank  you  for  the  courtesy  shown  to 
the  flag  and  its  messengers.  I  will  accept  the  exchange  for  private  Carter- 
The  two  citizens,  Whiting  and  Lively,  were  taken  with  arms  in  their  hands, 
one  of  which  was  discharged  from  the  house  of  Whiting  upon  the  column 
of  our  troops  when  all  resistance  was  useless,  and  when  his  attack  was  sim- 


CONSEQtTEtfCES    OF    GREAT   BETHEL.  135 

ply  assassination,  and  when  no  offense  had  been  committed  against  him. 
The  house  from  which  this  shot  was  fired,  and  a  building  which  formed  a 
part  of  your  outpost  are  the  only  conflagrations  caused  by  the  troops  un- 
der my  command.  And  the  light  of  these  had  ceased  hours  before  your 
men  ventured  out  from  under  their  earthworks  and  ditches,  to  do  us  the 
courtesy  of  burying  our  dead,  for  which  act  you  have  my  sincere  thanks. 

"  After  our  troops  returned  from  the  field — hours  after — a  building  was 
burned  which  had  furnished  our  wounded  some  shelter,  and  from  which  we 
had  removed  them,  but  not  by  our  men.  For  your  kind  treatment  of  any 
wounded  you  may  have,  please  accept  my  assurance  of  deep  obligation,  with 
the  certainty  that  at  any  and  every  opportunity  such  courtesy  and  kindness 
will  be  reciprocated.  I  am  sorry  that  an  officer  so  distinguished  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States  as  yourself  could  for  a  moment  suppose  that  the 
wanton  destruction  of  private  property  would  in  any  way  be  authorized  or 
tolerated  by  the  federal  government  and  its  officers,  many  of  whom  are  your 
late  associates.  Even  now,  while  your  letter  is  being  answered,  and  this  is  on 
its  way  to  you,  a  most  ignominious  and  severe  punishment,  in  the  presence 
of  all  the  troops,  is  being  inflicted  upon  men  who  had  enlisted  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States — not  soldiers — for  plundering  private  property. 
All  private  property  which  would  not,  by  the  strictest  construction,  be  con- 
sidered contraband  of  war,  as  means  of  feeding  and  aiding  the  enemy, 
which  has  been  brought  within  my  lines  or  in  any  way  has  come  in  the  pos- 
session of  my  troops  and  discovered,  with  the  strictest  examination  has  been 
taken  account  of  and  collected  together  to  be  given  to  those  peaceable 
citizens  who  have  come  forward  to  make  claim  for  it.  A  board  of  survey 
has  been  organized,  and  has  already  reported  indemnity  for  the  property 
of  peaceable  citizens  necessarily  destroyed.  In  order  to  convince  you  that 
no  wrong  has  been  done  to  private  property  by  any  one  in  authority  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  I  do  myself  the  honor  to  inclose  a  copy  of  a 
general  order  from  this  department,  which  will  sufficiently  explain  itself. 
And  the  most  active  measures  have  been  taken  rigidly  to  enforce  it,  and  to 
punish  violations  thereof.  That  there  have  been  too  many  sporadic  acts  of 
wrong  to  private  property  committed  by  bad  men  under  my  command,  I 
admit  and  most  sincerely  regret,  and  believe  they  will  in  the  future  be  sub- 
stantially prevented ;  and  I  mean  they  shall  be  repaired  in  favor  of  all  loyal 
citizens  so  far  as  lies  in  my  power. 

"  You  have  done  me  the  honor  to  inform  me  that  vidette  Carter  is  not  a 
prisoner  takeu  in  battle.  That  is  quite  true.  He  was  asleep  on  his  post, 
and  informs  me  that  his  three  companions  left  in  such  haste  that  they  neg- 
lected to  wake  him  up.  And  they  being  mounted  and  my  men  on  footT 
the  race  was  a  difficult  one.  If  it  is  not  the  intention  of  your  authorities 
to  treat  the  citizens  of  Virginia  taken  in  actual  conflict  with  the  United 
States,  as  soldiers,  in  what  light  shall  they  be  considered  ?  Please  inform 
7* 


156  CONSEQUENCES  OF  GREAT  BETHEL. 

me  in  what  light  you  regard  them.     If  not  soldiers,  must  they  not  be  as- 
sassins ? 

"A  sergeant  of  Captain  Davies's  command  will  be  charged  to  meet  your 
sergeant  at  four  o'clock,  at  the  village  of  Hampton,  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
change of  private  Carter. 

;'  I  need  not  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  will  be  unauthor- 
ized acts  of  violence  committed  by  those  who  are  not  sufficiently  under  re- 
straint of  their  commanding  officers.  My  men  complain  that  the  ambu- 
lance having  the  wounded  was  fired  into  by  your  cavalry.  And  I  am  in- 
formed that  if  you  have  any  prisoners,  they  were  taken  while  engaged  in 
pious  duty  to  their  wounded  comrades,  and  not  in  battle.  It  has  not  oc- 
curred to  my  mind  that  either  firing  into  the  ambulance  or  capturing  per- 
sons in  charge  of  the  wounded  men  was  an  act  either  authorized,  recog- 
nized, or  sanctioned  by  any  gentleman  in  command  of  the  forces  in  Virginia. 
Before  this  unhappy  strife,  I  had  not  been  so  accustomed  to  regard  the  acts 
of  my  late  associate  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  I  have  seen  nothing 
in  the  course  of  this  contest  in  the  acts  of  those  in  authority,  to  lead  me  to 
a  different  conclusion. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  most  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Ben j.  F.  Butler, 
"  Major-  General  Commanding  United  States  Forces." 

General  Butler  learned  the  lesson  first  taught  by  the  failure  at 
Great  Bethel,  since  repeated  on  so  many  disastrous  fields.  That 
lesson  was,  the  utter  insufficiency  of  the  volunteer  system  as  then 
organized,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of  officers  morally  and  profes- 
sionally superior  to  the  men  under  their  command.  The  southern 
social  system,  at  least,  leads  to  the  selection  of  officers  to  whom  the 
men  are  accustomed  to  look  up.  Our  officers,  on  the  contrary, 
must  have  a  real  superiority,  both  of  knowledge  and  of  character, 
in  order  to  bind  a  regiment  into  coherency  and  force.  General 
Butler  had  under  his  command  captains,  majors  and  colonels  who 
owed  their  election  chiefly  to  their  ability  to  bestow  unlimited 
drinks.  There  were  drunkards  and  thieves  among  them;  to  say 
nothing  of  those  who,  from  mere  ignorance  and  natural  inefficiency, 
could  maintain  over  their  men  no  degree  whatever  of  moral  or 
military  ascendancy.  The  general  saw  the  evil.  In  a  letter  to  the 
secretary  of  war,  June  26  th,  he  pointed  out  the  partial  remedy 
which  was  afterward  adopted. 

"  I  desire,"  he  wrote,  "  to  trouble  you  upon  a  subject  of  the  last 
importance  to  the  organization  of  our  volunteer  regiments.     Many 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  GREAT  BETHEL.  157 

of  the  volunteers,  both  two  and  three  years  men,  have  chosen  their 
own  company  officers,  and  in  some  cases  their  field  officers,  and 
they  have  been  appointed  without  any  proper  military  examination 
before  a  proper  board,  according  to  the  plan  of  organization  of  the 
volunteers.  There  should  be  some  means  by  which  these  officers 
can  be  sifted  out..  The  efficiency  and  usefulness  of  the  regiment 
depend  upon  it.  To  give  you  an  illustration :  In  one  regiment  I 
have  had  seven  applications  for  resignation,  and  seventeen  applica- 
tions for  leave  of  absence  ;  some  on  the  most  frivolous  pretexts,  by 
every  grade  of  officers  under  the  colonel.  I  have  yielded  to  many 
of  these  applications,  and  more  readily  than  I  should  otherwise 
have  done,  because  I  was  convinced  that  their  absence  was  of 
benefit  rather  than  harm.  Still,  this  absence  is  a  virtual  fraud  upon 
the  United  States.  It  seems  as  if  there  must  be  some  method  other 
than  a  court-martial  of  ridding  the  service  of  these  officers,  when 
there  are  so  many  competent  men  ready,  willing,  and  eager  to  serve 
their  country.  Ignorance  and  incompetency  are  not  crimes  to  be 
tried  by  court  martial,  while  they  are  great  misfortunes  to  an 
officer.  As  at  present  the  whole  matter  of  the  organization  is  in- 
formal, without  direct  authority  of  law  in  its  details,  may  not  the 
matter  be  reached  by  having  a  board  appointed  at  any  given  post, 
composed  of  three  or  five,  to  whom  the  competency,  efficiency,  and 
propriety  of  conduct  of  a  given  officer  might  be  submitted  ?  And 
that  upon  the  report  of  that  board,  approved  by  the  commander 
and  the  department,  the  officer  be  dropped  without  the  disgrace 
attending  the  sentence  of  a  court-martial  ?" 

Meanwhile,  the  general  labored  most  earnestly  to  raise  the  stand- 
ard of  discipline  in  the  regiments.  The  difficulty  was  great, 
amounting,  at  times,  to  impossibility.  At  one  time  there  were 
thirty-eight  vacancies  among  the  officers  of  the  New  York  regi- 
ments alone.  The  men,  accustomed  to  active  industry,  and  now 
compelled  to  endure  the  monotony  of  a  camp,  sought  excitement  in 
drink.  It  was,  for  some  weeks,  a  puzzle  at  head-quarters  where  the 
soldiers  obtained  such  abundant  supplies  of  the  means  of  intoxica- 
tion. "  We  used,"  said  General  Butler,  in  his  testimony  before  the 
war  committee,  "  to  send  a  picket  guard  up  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
Fortress  Monroe.  The  men  would  leave  perfectly  sober,  yet  every 
night  when  they  came  back  we  would  have  trouble  with  them  on 
account  of  their  being  drunk.     Where  they  got  their  liquor  from 


158  CONSEQUENCES  OE  GREAT  BETHEL. 

we  could  not  tell.  Night  after  night,  we  instituted  a  rigorous 
examination,  but  it  was  always  the  same.  The  men  were  examined 
over  and  over  again ;  their  canteens  were  inspected,  and  yet  we 
could  find  no  liquor  about  them.  At  last  it  was  observed  that  they 
seemed  to  hold  their  guns  up  very  straight,  and,  upon  examination 
being  made,  it  was  found  that  every  gun-barrel  was  filled  with 
whisky ;  and  it  was  not  always  the  soldiers  who  did  this." 

Further  investigation  disclosed  facts  still  more  distressing.  An 
eye-witness  reports : 

"  General  Butler  ascertained  that  what  was  professedly  the  sut- 
ler's store  of  one  of  the  regiments,  was  but  a  groggery.  Thh  he 
visited,  and  stove  the  heads  of  some  half  dozen  barrels,  and  spilled 
all  the  liquor  of  every  sort  to  be  found.  He  found  a  book,  in  which 
the  account  with  a  single  regiment  was  kept,  which  disclosed  a 
state  of  things  truly  startling.  Scarcely  an  officer  of  the  regiment 
but  had  an  open  account,  footing  up  for  the  single  month  amounts 
ranging  from  $10  to  $1,000.  The  items  charged,  and  the  space  of 
time  within  which  the  liquor  was  obtained,  and,  of  course,  con- 
sumed, was  truly  astonishing,  and  proved  the  depth  of  demoraliza- 
tion to  which  the  officers,  and,  I  fear,  consequently,  the  entire  regi- 
ment, had  become  reduced.  I  purposely  suppress  a  narrative  of 
the  scenes  of  debauchery  and  violence  in  the  camp  at  Newport 
News,  where  the  regiment  has  lately  been  removed,  a  few  evenings 
since,  resulting  in  the  shooting,  if  not  the  death,  of  a  soldier,  fired 
en  by  an  officer  while  both  were  intoxicated. 

"  General  Butler  having  possessed  himself  of  the  book  in  ques- 
tion, went  to  Newport  News  yesterday  afternoon,  having  previ- 
ously summoned  all  the  commissioned  officers  of  the  regiment  to 
meet  him  alone  on  the  boat  on  his  arrival.  They  came  as  sum- 
moned. General  Butler  told  them  frankly  and  pointedly  what  was 
the  object  of  the  meeting ;  exhibited  to  them  the  evidence  that  was 
in  his  hands  of  the  astonishing  amounts  of  liquor  which  they  as  offi- 
cers had  purchased ;  pointed  them  to  the  consequences  as  seen  in 
the  demoralized  condition  of  the  regiments  ;  the  late  scenes  of  vio- 
lence, the  waste  of  money,  the  injustice  of  such  conduct  toward 
New  York,  after  she  had  been  to  the  expense  of  giving  them  a  lib- 
eral outfit,  and,  with  a  princely  liberality,  was  supporting  so  many 
of  the  families  of  soldiers  and  others ;  and,  more  than  all,  the  de- 
plorable consequences  that  must  ensue  to  the  cause  from  such  indnl- 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  GKEAT  BETHEL.  159 

gence.  General  Butler  said  there  must  and  should  be  a  stop  put  to 
it.  He  said  he  himself  was  not  a  total-abstinence  man,  but  he 
pledged  to  the  officers  he  addressed  his  word  of  honor  as  an  officer 
and  a  man  that,  so  long  as  he  remained  in  this  department,  intoxi- 
cating drinks  should  be  banished  from  his  quarters,  and  that  he 
would  not  use  them  except  when  medicinally  prescribed ;  and  he 
wanted  the  officers  present  to  give  him  their  pledge  that  henceforth 
this  should  be  the  rule  of  their  conduct.  As  he  had  determined  to 
tell  no  man  to  go,  where  he  could  not  say  come,  so,  in  this  matter, 
he  required  no  officer  to  do  that  which  he  would  not  first  do  him- 
self. General  Butler  enforced  his  views  and  the  grounds  of  the  de- 
termination he  had  formed  feelingly  and  forcibly,  and  the  affirm- 
ative response  was  unanimous,  with  only  one  exception,  he  being  a 
captain,  whose  resignation  Colonel  Phelps  announced  was  then  in 
his  hands,  and  which  General  Butler  instantly  accepted. 

"  This  interview  over,  General  Butler  directed  Captain  Davis, 
the  provost-marshal,  and  his  deputy,  W.  H..  Wiegel,  to  proceed  to 
search  every  place  known  to  sell  liquor,  or  suspected  of  being  en- 
gaged in  the  traffic,  and  to  destroy  the  same.  Within  one  hour 
between  twenty  and  thirty  barrels  of  whisky,  brandy,  and  other 
concoctions  were  emptied  on  the  ground,  amid  the  cheers  of  the 
soldiers.  The  proceeding  elicited  the  warmest  approbation  of  the 
whole  camp,  and  especially  of  the  men,  who,  as  patrons  of  the  sut- 
lers, had  been  swindled  by  them.  The  sutlers  themselves,  and  all 
others  guilty  of  having  contributed  to  demoralize  the  troops,  were 
taken  into  custody  and  brought  to  the  fortress,  and  will  be  sent 
hence." 

General  Butler's  order  on  the  subject  of  intoxicating  drinks  is  too 
characteristic  to  be  omitted. 

"Head-quarters,  Department  Virginia, 

"Fort  Monroe,  Va.,  Augmt  2,  1861. 
1  General  Order,  JTo.  22. — The  general  commanding  was  informed  on 
the  first  day  of  the  month,  from  the  books  of  an  unlicensed  liquor  dealer 
near  this  post,  and  by  the  effect  on  the  officers  and  soldiers  under  his  com- 
mand, that  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  prevailed  to  an  alarming  extent 
among  the  officers  of  his  command.  He  had  already  taken  measures  to  pre- 
vent its  use  among  the  men,  but  had  presumed  that  officers  and  gentlemen 
might  be  trusted ;  but  he  finds  that  as  a  rule,  in  some  regiments,  that  as- 
sumption is  ill-founded,  while  there  are  many  honorable  exceptions  to  this 


160  CONSEQUENCES    OF    GREAT   BETIIEL. 

unhappy  state  of  facts ;  yet,  for  the  good  of  all,  some  stringent  measures 
upon  the  subject  are  necessary. 

"  Hereafter,  all  packages  brought  into  this  department  for  any  officer  of 
whatever  grade,  will  be  subjected  to  the  most  rigid  inspection ;  and  all  spir- 
ituous and  intoxicating  liquors  therein  will  be  taken  and  turned  over  to  the 
use  of  the  medical  department.  Any  officer  who  desires  may  be  present  at 
the  inspection  of  his  own  packages. 

"  !No  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor  will  be  allowed  in  this  department,  and  any 
citizen  selling  will  be  immediately  sent  out. 

"  If  any  officer  finds  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  necessary  for  his  health, 
or  the  health  of  any  of  his  men,  a  written  application  to  the  medical  direc- 
tor will  be  answered;  and  the  general  is  confident  that  there  is  a  sufficient 
store  for  all  necessary  purposes. 

"  The  medical  director  will  keep  a  record  of  all  such  applications,  the  name 
of  the  applicant,  date  of  application,  amount  and  kind  of  liquor  delivered, 
to  be  open  at  all  times  for  public  inspection. 

"  In  view  of  the  alarming  increase  in  the  use  of  this  deleterious  article,  the 
general  earnestly  exhorts  all  officers  and  soldiers  to  use  their  utmost  exer- 
tions, both  of  influence  and  example,  to  prevent  the  wasting  effects  of  this 
scourge  of  all  armies. 

11  The  general  commanding  does  not  desire  to  conceal  the  fact  that  he  has 
been  accustomed  to  the  use  of  wine  and  liquors  in  his  own  quarters,  and  to  fur- 
nish them  to  his  friends  ;  but  as  he  desires  never  to  ask  either  officers  or  men 
to  undergo  any  privation  which  he  will  not  share  with  them,  he  will  not  ex- 
empt himself  from  the  operation  of  this  order,  but  will  not  use  it  in  his  own 
quarters,  as  he  would  discourage  its  use  in  the  quarters  of  any  other  officer. 
Amid  the  many  sacrifices  of  time,  property,  health  and  life,  which  the  offi- 
cers and  soldiers  of  his  command  are  making  in  the  service  of  their  country, 
the  general  commanding  feels  confident  that  this,  so  slight,  but  so  necessa- 
ry a  sacrifice  of  a  luxury,  and  pandering  to  appetite,  will  be  borne  most 
cheerfully,  now  that  its  evil  is  seen  and  appreciated. 

"  This  order  will  be  published  by  reading  it  at  the  head  of  every  battalion, 
at  their  several  evening  parades. 

"  By  command  of 

"  Majoe-Geneeal  Butleb. 

"  T.  J.  Haines,  A.  A.  A.  General" 


The  whisky  at  Fortress  Monroe  inspired  one  piece  of  wit,  which 
amused  the  command.  This  was  the  time  when  it  was  customary 
to  "administer  the  oath"  to  arrested  secessionists,  and  set  them 
at  liberty.  A  scouting  party  having  brought  in  a  rattlesnake, 
t"  -.o   question   arose  what  should  be    done   with  it.     A   drunken 


CONSEQUENCES  OP  GREAT  BETHEL.  161 

soldier  hiccoughed  out:    "d — n  him,  swear  him  in  and  let  him 
go."* 

With  equal  vigor,  General  Butler  made  war  upon  a  practice 
which  no  commanding  officer  has  ever  been  able  entirely  to  sup- 
press, that  of  plundering  abandoned  houses.  The  possession  of  a 
chair,  a  table,  a  piece  of  carpet,  an  old  kettle,  or  even  a  piece  of 
plank,  adds  so  much  to  the  comfort  of  men  in  camp,  that  the  temp- 
tation to  help  themselves  to  such  articles  is  sometimes  irresistible. 
If  any  man  could  have  prevented  plundering,  Wellington  was  that 
individual ;  but  he  could  not,  though  he  possessed  and  used  the 
power  to  hang  offenders  on  the  spot.   Subsequent  investigation  proved 

*  It  also  gave  rise  to  the  following  correspondence: 

"Astoria,  N.  T.,  July  26, 1861. 

"•General  B.  F.  Butler — Sir:  Yon  are  aware  of  the  interest  felt  by  the  loyal  people  of  this 
country  in  their  army.  Men  and  women  are  ready  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  sustain  and  encour- 
age the  noble  men  who  have  gone  forth  to  defend  our  country.  This  very  day  many  of  the  ladies 
of  this  village  have  been  seen  hard  at  work  making  up  garments  and  other  things  for  hospital  use. 
Our  ladies  here  sent  a  large  quantity  of  articles  to  Fort  Monroe,  and  have  others  ready  to  send.  I 
doubt  not  in  other  places  thousands  have  been  similarly  employed.  This  being  the  case,  we  feel 
that  everything  affecting  the  character  of  our  army  concerns  us.  A  lady  in  the  village  has  receiv- 
ed a  letter  from  a  soldier  under  your  command,  a  reliable  man,  who  says,  one  of  the  officers  has 
been  drunk  a  week.  An,  army  in  which  such  conduct  is  tolerated,  is  of  course  demoralised.  I 
felt  it  my  duty  as  a  citizen  to  inform  you  of  the  impression  made  by  such  a  statement  on  all  who 
hear  it.  Our  cause  is  hopeless  if  such  men  are  to  hold  office  in  our  army,  or  if  such  conduct  does 
not  receive  condign  punishment.  Most  respectfully  yours, 

■  B.  F.  Stead,  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  Astoria,  L.  7." 

"  Head-quarters,  Department  op  Virginia,  July  29,  1861. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  Y  our  note  received.  I  am  pained  by  its  contents.  *  A  reliable  man  says  that 
an  officer  has  been  drunk  for  a  week.1 

"I  did  not  appoint  this  officer.  I  do  not  know  who  he  is.  I  have  no  means  of  knowing  unless 
the  '  reliable  mart  will  complain  of  him  to  me.  I  do  not l  tolerate1  such  conduct.  Why  did  the 
people  of  his  county,  who  must  have  known  that  officer's  habits,  allow  him  to  be  commissioned? 
Why  did  this  reliable  man  vote  for  him  ? 

"I  have  established  a  scrutiny  over  the  packages  sent  to  the  men  to  have  them  cleared  of  li- 
quor given  by  misguiding  friends:  and  have  taken  away  to  be  turned  over  to  hospital  as  many  as 
one  hundred  and  five  packages  of  liquor  a  day  from  one  express  company. 

"  1  have  assumed  that  the  officers  chosen  and  commissioned  by  the  state  of  New  York  could  be 
trusted  to  receive  unopened  packages  from  their  friends.     If  in  your  judgment  they  can  not  be  so 

usted,  please  apply  to  the  governor,  and  upon  his  suggestion  I  will  have  the  stores  and  boxes 
«it  to  New  York  officers  seized  and  searched. 

"  No  spirituous  liquors  are  permitted  to  be  sold  within  the  lines  in  my  department ;  and  every 
barrel  of  whisky  not  under  the  charge  of  an  officer,  when  there  is  reason  to  believe  sales  have  been 
made,  has  been  stove  and  contents  spilled,  and  the  seller  sent  out  of  the  lines.  I  have  no  power 
to  discharge  a  drunken  or  incompetent  officer.  I  can  only  call  a  court-martial  when  charges  are 
preferred.  If  I  prefer  charges  1  can  not  call  a  court.  I  assure  you,  sir,  a  court-martial  is  as  un- 
wieldy a  machine  for  investigating  a  certain  class  of  offenses  as  a  council  of  ministers  would  be. 
I  have  appeared  before  both  tribunals  as  advocate,  and  know  how  difficult  it  is  to  convict  in  either. 

"But,  sir,  have  the  charges  made,  and  the  reliable  man  sent  as  a  witness,  and  I  will  have  the 
officer  punished  if  possible.    Thanking  you  for  the  interest  you  take  in  the  case, 

"  I  am,  most  respectfully  yours,  Benjamin  F.  Butler." 


162  CONSEQUENCES    OF   GEE  AT   BETHEL. 

that  our  troops  around  Fortress  Monroe  plundered  little,  consider- 
ing their  opportunities  and  their  temptation.  But  that  little  was 
disgraceful  enough,  and  gave  rise  to  much  clamor.  All  that  any 
man  could  have  done  to  prevent  and  punish  offenses  of  this  nature 
was  done  by  the  commanding  general.*  ISTo  man  abhorred  plunder- 
ing more  than  Colonel  Phelps ;  but  he  could  not  quite  prevent  it. 
Coming  in  to  dinner  one  day,  he  saw  upon  the  table  a  porcelain 
dish  filled  with  green  peas.  He  stood  for  a  moment  with  eyes 
fixed  upon  the  suspicious  vessel,  wrath  gathering  in  his  face. 

"  Take  that  dish  away,"  said  he,  in  a  tone  of  fierce  command  fox 
so  gentle  a  man. 

The  alarmed  contraband  prepared  to  obey,  but  ventured  to  ask 
what  he  should  do  with  the  peas. 

"  Put  them  into  a  wash-basin,  if  you  can't  find  anything  better. 
But  take  that  dish  away,  and  never  let  me  see  it  again." 

The  dish  was  removed,  and  Colonel  Phelps  ordered  it  to  be  taken 
to  the  hospital  for  the  use  of  the  sick. 

One  truth  became  very  clear  to  General  Butler  while  he  held 
command  in  Virginia.  It  was,  that  men  enlisted  for  short  terms 
can  not,  as  a  rule,  be  relied  upon  for  effective  service.  When  the 
time  of  the  three  months  men  was  half  expired,  all  other  feelings 
seemed  to  be  merged  in  the  longing  for  release.  Like  boys  at 
school  before  the  holidays,  they  would  cut  notches  in  a  stick  and 
erase  one  every  day ;  and,  as  the  time  of  return  home  drew  nearer, 

*  The  following  order  on  this  subject  was  issued  during  the  first  week  of  General  Butler's  com- 
mand : — 

"  Head-Quarters,  Department  of  Virginia,  May  26,  1861. 

"The  general  in  command  of  this  department  has  learned  with  pain  that  there  are  instances 
of  depredation  on  private  property,  by  some  persons  who  have  smuggled  themselves  among  the 
soldiers  under  his  command.  This  must  not  and  shall  not  be.  The  rights  of  private  property 
and  of  peaceable  citizens  must  be  respected.  When  the  exigencies  of  the  service  require  that 
private  property  be  taken  for  public  use,  it  must  be  done  by  proper  officers,  giving  suitable 
vouchers  therefor.  It  is  made  the  special  duty  of  every  officer  in  command  of  any  post  of  troops 
on  detached  service,  or  in  camp,  to  exercise  the  utmost  vigilance  in  this  behalf,  to  cause  all  offend- 
ers in  the  matter  of  this  order  to  be  sent  to  head-quarters  for  punishment,  and  such  measure  of 
justice  will  then  be  meted  out  to  them  as  is  due  to  thieves  and  plunderers. 

"  If  any  corps  shall  share  or  aid  in  receiving  such  plundered  property  or  offenders,  such  corps 
shall  be  dealt  with  in  its  organization  in  such  a  manner  as  to  check  such  practices. 

"This  order  will  be  promulgated  by  being  three  times  read  with  distinctness  to  each  battalion 
at  evening  parade. 

"Any  citizen  at  peace  with  the  United  States,  despoiled  in  his  person  or  property  by  any  of  the 
troops  in  this  department,  will  confer  a  favor  by  promptly  reporting  the  outrage  to  the  nearest 

"  By  order  of 

"Benj.  F.  Butler,  Major-General  Commanding^ 


RECALL   FROM   VIRGINIA.  103 

they  would  cut  half  a  notch  away  at  noon.  It  appeared  that  short- 
term  troops  are  efficient  for  not  more  than  half  their  time  of  en- 
listment; after  that,  the^r  hearts  are  at  home,  not  in  their  duty. 
The  general  was  of  opinion,  that  an  army,  if  possible,  should  be 
enlisted  not  for  any  definite  term,  but  for  the  war ;  thus  supplying 
the  men  with  a  most  powerful  motive  for  efficient  action  ;  the  home- 
ward path  lying  through  victory  over  the  enemy. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

RECALL   FROM    VIRGINIA. 

The  visitors  attracted  to  the  fortress  severely  taxed  the  time  and 
hospitality  of  the  general  in  command  and  of  the  gracious  lady  who 
presided  at  his  table.  Senators,  representatives,  governors,  editors, 
officers,  private  persons,  crowded  that  table  to  the  number  of  thirty 
a  day.  Some  enterprising  individuals  even  projected  grand  excur- 
sions to  the  fortress,  threatening  it  with  steamboat  loads  of  pleasure 
seekers.  An  order  was  issued  to  prevent  such  an  untimely  irrup- 
tion, and  requiring  a  special  permit  to  land. 

Mr.  Russell  of  the  London  Times  has  given  us  an  amusing  record 
of  his  visit  to  the  fortress.  General  Butler  went  the  rounds  with 
him. 

"  The  day,"  he  reports,  "  was  excessively  hot,  and  many  of  the 
soldiers  were  lying  down  in  the  shade  of  arbors  formed  of  branches 
from  the  neighboring  pine  wood,  but  most  of  them  got  up  when 
they  heard  the  general  was  coming  round.  A  sentry  walked  up 
and  down  at  the  end  of  the  street,  and  as  the  general  came  up  to 
him  he  called  out  '  Halt.'  The  man  stood  still.  '  I  just  want  to 
show  you,  sir,  what  scoundrels  our  government  has  to  deal  with 
This  man  belongs  to  a  regiment  which  has  had  new  clothing  recently 
served  out  to  it.  Look  what  it  is  made  of.'  So  saying  the  general 
stuck  his  fore-finger  into  the  breast  of  the  man's  coat,  and  with  a 
rapid  scratch  of  his  nail  tore  open  the  cloth  as  if  it  was  of  blotting 
paper.  '  Shoddy,  sir.  Nothing  but  shoddy.  I  wish  I  had  these 
contractors  in  the  trenches  here,  and  if  hard  work  would  not  make 


RECALL   SR0M   VIRGINIA. 

honest  men  of  them,  they'd  have  enough  of  it  to  be  examples  for 
the  rest  of  their  fellows.' 

"  In  the  course  of  our  rounds  we  were  joined  by  Colonel  Phelps, 
who  was  formerly  in  the*  United  States  army,  and  saw  service  in 
Mexico,  but  retired  because  he  did  not  approve  of  the  manner  in 
which  promotions  were  made,  and  who  only  took  command  of  a 
Massachusetts  regiment  because  he  believed  he  might  be  instru- 
mental in  striking  a  shrewd  blow  or  two  in  this  great  battle  of 
Armageddon — a  tall,  saturnine,  gloomy,  angry-eyed,  sallow  man, 
soldier-like  too,  and  one  who  places  old  John  Brown  on  a  level 
with  the  great  martyrs  of  the  Christian  world.  *  *  * 

" '  Yes,  I  know  them  well.  I've  seen  them  in  the  field.  I've  sat 
with  them  at  meals.  I've  traveled  through  their  country.  These 
Southern  slaveholders  are  a  false,  licentious,  godless  people.  Either 
we,  who  obey  the  laws  and  fear  God,  or  they,  who  know  no  God 
except  their  own  will  and  pleasure,  and  know  no  law  except  their 
passions,  must  rule  on  this  continent :  and  I  believe  that  Heaven 
will  help  its  own  in  the  conflict  they  have  provoked.  I  grant  you 
they  are  brave  enough,  and  desperate  too,  but,  surely  justice,  truth 
and  religion,  will  strengthen  a  man's  arm  to  strike  down  those  who 
have  only  brute  force  and  a  bad  cause  to  support  them.'        *        * 

"  In  the  afternoon  the  boat  returned  to  Fortress  Monroe,  and 
the  general  invited  me  to  dinner,  where  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meet- 
ing Mrs.  Butler,  his  staff,  and  a  couple  of  regimental  officers  from 
the  neighboring  camp.  As  it  was  still  early,  General  Butler  pro- 
posed a  ride  to  visit  the  interesting  village  of  Hampton,  which  lies 
some  six  or  seven  miles  outside  the  fort,  and  forms  his  advance 
post.  A  powerful  charger,  with  a  tremendous  Mexican  saddle, 
fine  housings,  blue  and  gold-embroidered  saddle-cloth,  was  brought 
to  the  door  for  your  humble  servant,  and  the  general  mounted 
another,  which  did  equal  credit  to  his  taste  in  horseflesh ;  but  I  own 
I  felt  rather  uneasy  on  seeing  that  he  wore  a  pair  of  large  brass 
spurs,  strapped  over  white  jean  brodequins.  He  took  with  him  his 
aide-de-camp  and  a  couple  of  orderlies.  In  the  precincts  of  the  fort 
outside,  a  population  of  contraband  negroes  has  been  collected, 
whom  the  general  employs  in  various  works  about  the  place,  mili- 
tary and  civil ;  but  I  failed  to  ascertain  that  the  original  scheme  c  P 
a  debit  and  credit  account  between  the  value  of  their  labor  and  tho 
cost  of  their  maintenance  had  been  successfully  carried  out.     The 


RECALL   FROM   VIRGINIA.  165 

general  was  proud  of  them,  and  they  seemed  proud  of  themselves, 
saluting  him  with  a  ludicrous  mixture  of  awe  and  familiarity  as  he 
rode  past.  '  How-do,  Massa  Butler  ?  How-do,  general  ?'  accom- 
panied by  absurd  bows  and  scrapes.  '  Just  to  think,'  said  the  gen- 
eral, 'that  every  one  of  these  fellows  represents  some  1,000  dollars 
at  least  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  chivalry  yonder.'  '  Nasty,  idle, 
dirty  beasts,'  says  one  of  the  staff,  sotto  voce,  '  I  wish  to  Heaven 
they  were  all  at  the  bottom  of  the  Chesapeake.  The  general  insists 
on  it  that  they  do  work,  but  they  are  far  more  trouble  than  they 
are  worth.' 

"The  road  towards  Hampton  traverses  a  sandy  spit,  which, 
however,  is  more  fertile  than  would  be  supposed  from  the  soil 
under  the  horses'  hoofs,  though  it  is  not  in  the  least  degree  inter- 
esting. A  broad  creek  or  river  interposed  between  us  and  the 
town,  the  bridge  over  which  had  been  destroyed.  Workmen  were 
busy  repairing  it,  but  all  the  planks  had  not  yet  been  laid  down  or 
nailed,  and  in  some  places  the  open  space  between  the  upright 
rafters  allowed  us  to  see  the  dark  waters  flowing  beneath.  The 
aide  said,  1 1  don't  think,  general,  it  is  safe  to  cross  f  but  his  chief 
did  not  mind  him  until  his  horse  very  nearly  crashed  through  a 
plank,  and  only  regained  its  footing  with  unbroken  legs  by  marvel- 
ous dexterity ;  whereupon  we  dismounted,  and,  leaving  the  horses 
to  be  carried  over  in  the  ferry-boat,  completed  the  rest  of  the 
transit,  not  without  difficulty.  ****** 

"  Most  of  the  shops  were  closed ;  in  some  the  shutters  were  still 
down,  and  the  goods  remained  displayed  in  the  windows.  '  I  have 
allowed  no  plundering,'  said  the  general ;  *  and  if  I  find  a  fellow 
trying  to  do  it,  I  will  hang  him  as  sure  as  my  name  is  Butler.  See 
here,'  and  as  he  spoke  he  walked  into  a  large  woolen-draper's  shop 
where  bales  of  cloth  were  still  lying  on  the  shelves,  and  many  arti- 
cles, such  as  are  found  in  a  large  general  store  in  a  country  town, 
were  disposed  on  the  floor  or  counters ;  *  they  shall  not  accuse  the 
men  under  my  command  of  being  robbers.'  The  boast,  however, 
was  not  so  well  justified  in  a  visit  to  another  house  occupied  by 
some  soldiers.  '  Well,'  said  the  general,  with  a  smile,  *  I  dare  say 
you  know  enough  of  camps  to  have  found  out  that  chairs  and 
tables  are  irresistible ;  the  men  will  take  them  off  to  their  tents, 
though  they  may  have  to  leave  them  next  morning.' 

"Having  inspected  the  \,  orks — as  far  I  could  judge,  too  extend- 


163  RECALL   FROM   VIRGINIA. 

ed,  and  badly  traced — which  I  say  with  all  deference  to  the  able 
young  engineer  who  accompanied  us  to  point  out  the  various 
objects  of  interest — the  general  returned  to  the  bridge,  where  we 
remounted,  and  made  a  tour  of  the  camps  of  the  force  intended  to 
defend  Hampton,  falling  back  on  Fortress  Monroe  in  case  of  neces- 
sity. Whilst  he  was  riding  ventre  d  terre,  which  seems  to  be  his 
favorite  pace,  his  horse  stumbled  in  the  dusty  road,  and  in  his  effort 
to  keep  his  seat  the  general  broke  his  stirrup-leather,  and  the  pon- 
derous brass  stirrup  fell  to  the  ground ;  but,  albeit  a  lawyer,  he 
neither  lost  his  seat  nor  his  sang  froid,  and  calling  out  to  his 
orderly  "  to  pick  up  his  toe-plate,"  the  jean  slippers  were  closely 
pressed,  spurs  and  all,  to  the  sides  of  his  steed,  and  away  we  went 
once  more  through  dust  and  heat  so  great  that  I  was  by  no  means 
sorry  when  he  pulled  up  outside  a  pretty  villa,  standing  in  a 
garden,  which  was  occupied  by  Colonel  Max  Weber,  of  the  Ger- 
man Turner  regiment,  once  the  property  of  General  Tyler.      *      * 

"  The  shades  of  evening  were  now  falling,  and  as  I  had  been  up 
before  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  was  not  sorry  when  General 
Butler  said,  '  Now  we  will  go  home  to  tea,  or  you  will  detain  the 
steamer.'  He  had  arranged  before  I  started  that  the  vessel,  which, 
in  ordinary  course,  would  have  returnee,  to  Baltimore  at  eight 
o'clock,  should  remain  till  he  sent  down  word  to  the  captain  to  go. 

"  We  scampered  back  to  the  fort,  and  judging  from  the  chal- 
lenges and  vigilance  of  the  sentries,  and  inlying  pickets,  I  am  not 
quite  so  satisfied  that  the  enemy  could  have  surprised  the  place. 
At  the  tea-table  there  were  no  additions  to  the  general's  family ; 
he  therefore  spoke  without  any  reserve.  Going  over  the  map,  he 
explained  his  views  in  reference  to  future  operations,  and  showed 
cause,  with  more  military  acumen  than  I  could  have  expected  from 
a  gentleman  of  the  long  robe,  why  he  believed  Fortress  Monroe 
was  the  true  base  of  operations  against  Richmond.       *       *       * 

"  But  whilst  the  general  and  I  are  engaged  over  our  maps  and 
mint  juleps,*  time  flies,  and  at  last  I  perceive  by  the  clock  that  it  is 
time  to  go.  An  aide  is  sent  to  stop  the  boat,  but  he  returns  ere  I 
leave  with  the  news  that  '  She  is  gone.'  Whereupon  the  general 
sends  for  the  quartermaster,  Talmadge,  who  is  out  in  the  camps, 
and  only  arrives  in  time  to  receive  a  severe  '  wigging.'  It  so  hap- 
pened that  I  had  important  papers  to  send  off  by  the  next  mail 

*  This  visit  occurred  befora  the  promulgation  of  the  liquor  order. 


-RECALL   FROM    VIRGINIA.  167 

from  New  York,  and  the  only  chance  of  being  able  to  do  so  de- 
pended on  my  being  in  Baltimore  next  day.  General  Butler  acted 
with  kindness  and  promptitude  in  the  matter.  4 1  promised  you 
should  go  by  the  steamer,  but  the  captain  has  gone  off  without 
orders  to  leave,  for  which  he  shall  answer  when  I  see  him.  Mean- 
time it  is  my  business  to  keep  my  promise.  Captain  Talmadge, 
you  will  at  once  go  down  and  give  orders  to  the  most  suitable 
transport  steamer  or  chartered  vessel  available,  to  get  up  steam  at 
once,  and  come  up  to  the  wharf  for  Mr.  Russell.'  " 

A  steamer  was  prepared,  the  general's  promise  was  kept,  and 
Mr.  Russell  reached  Washington  in  time  to  witness  the  final  prep- 
arations for  the  advance  upon  Richmond,  by  way  of  Manassas. 

The  battle  that  ensued  ended  General  Butler's  hopes  of  being 
useful  at  Fortress  Monroe.  It  was  on  the  very  day  of  the  battle 
of  Bull  Run  that  he  first  received  the  means  of  moving  a  battery  of 
field  artillery,  and  of  completing  his  preparations  for  sweeping  clear 
of  armed  rebels  the  Virginia  tip  of  the  peninsula,  of  which  Maryland 
forms  the  greater  part.  Colonel  Baker  was  to  command  the  ex- 
pedition. Two  days  after  the  retreat  came  a  telegram  from  Gene- 
ral Scott:  "Send  to  this  place  without  fail,  in  three  days,  four 
regiments  and  a  half  of  long-term  volunteers,  including  Baker's, 
regiment  and  a  half."  The  troops  were  sent,  and  the  expedition 
was  necessarily  abandoned. 

The  news  of  the  great  defeat  created  at  the  fortress  a  degree  of 
consternation  almost  amounting  to  panic ;  for,  at  once,  the  rumor 
spread  that  the  victorious  enemy  were  about  to  descend  upon  the 
fortress,  and  overwhelm  it.  General  Butler  was  not  alarmed  at 
this  new  phantom.  One  of  the  first  cheering  voices  that  reached 
the  administration  was  his.  A  few  hours  after  reading  the  news, 
he  wrote  to  his  friend,  the  postmaster-general : 

"  We  have  heard  the  sad  news  from  Manassas,  but  are  neither 
dismayed  nor  disheartened.  It  will  have  the  same  good  effect 
upon  the  army  in  general  that  Big  Bethel  has  had  in  my  division, 
to  teach  us  wherein  we  are  weak  and  they  are  strong,  and  how  to 
apply  the  remedy  to  our  deficiences.  Let  not  the  administration 
be  disheartened  or  discouraged.  Let  no  compromises  be  made,  or 
wavering  be  felt.  God  helping,  we  will  go  through  to  ultimate 
assured  success.  But  let  us  have  no  more  of  the  silk  glove  in 
carrying  on  this  war.    Let  these  men  be  considered,  what  they  have 


168 


KECALL   FROM    VIEGIXIA. 


made  themselves,  '  our  enemies,'  and  let  their  property  of  all  kinds, 
whenever  it  can  be  useful  to  us,  be  taken  on  the  land  where  they 
have  it,  as  they  take  ours  upon  the  sea  where  we  have  it.  There 
seems  to  me  now  but  one  of  two  ways,  either  to  make  an  advance 
from  this  place  with  a  sufficient  force,  or  else,  leaving  a  simple 
garrison  here,  to  send  six  thousand  men  that  might  be  spared  on 
the  other  line ;  or,  still  another,  to  make  a  descent  upon  the  southern 
coast.    I  am  ready  and  desirous  to  move  forward  in  either." 

In  another  part  of  this  letter  he  strongly  recommends  Colonel 
Phelps  for  promotion :  "  Although  some  of  the  regular  officers  will, 
when  applied  to,  say  that  he  is  not  in  his  right  mind — the  only  evi- 
dence I  have  seen  of  it,  is  a  deep  religious  enthusiasm  upon  the 
subject  of  slavery,  which,  in  my  judgment,  does  not  unfit  him  to 
fight  the  battles  of  the  North.  As  I  never  had  seen  him  until  he 
came  here,  as  he  differs  with  me  in  politics,  I  have  no  interest  in 
the  recommendation,  save  a  deliberate  judgment  for  the  good  of  the 
cause  after  two  months  of  trial."  He  had  soon  after  the  pleasure 
of  "handing  to  Colonel  Phelps  the  shoulder  straps  of  a  brigadier- 
general. 

"  I  am  as  much  obliged  to  you,  general,"  said  he,  "  as  though  you 
had  done  me  a  favor." 

The  withdrawal  of  so  large  a  number  of  his  best  troops,  com- 
pelled the  evacuation  of  Hampton.  He  was  even  advised,  and 
that,  too,  by  a  member  of  the  cabinet,  as  well  as  by  many  officers 
high  in  rank  at  the  post,  to  abandon  Newport  News ;  but  he  would 
not  let  go  his  hold  upon  a  point  so  important  to  the  future  move- 
ment which  he  had  advised.  The  evacuation  of  Hampton  was  the 
event  which  called  forth  his  well-known  letter  to  the  secretary  of 
war  upon  the  disposition  of  the  contrabands. 

GENEBAL   BTJTLEB  TO   ME.    CAMEBON". 


"  HeAD-QuAETEES,   DePABTMEjSTT  OF  Vibginia, 
"  Foeteess  Moneoe,  July  30,  1861. 
"  Hoi*.  Simon  Cameeon,  Secretary  of  War  : 

"  Sie  : — By  an  order  received  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  July  from  Major- 
General  Dix,  by  a  telegraphic  order  from  Lieutenant-General  Scott,  I  was 
commanded  to  forward,  of  the  troops  of  this  department,  four  regiments 
and  a  half,  including  Colonel  Baker's  California  regiment,  to  Washington, 
vid  Baltimore.  This  order  reached  me  at  2  o'clock  a.  m.,  by  special  boat 
from  Baltimore.     Believing  that  it  emanated  because  of  some  pressing  exi- 


RECALL   FROM   VIRGINIA.  ItfD 

gency  for  the  defense  of  Washington,  I  issued  my  orders  before  daymeak 
for  the  embarkation  of  the  troops,  sending  those  who  were  among  the  very 
best  regiments  I  had.  In  the  course  of  the  following  day  they  were  all  em- 
barked for  Baltimore,  with  the  exception  of  some  four  hundred,  for  whom 
I  had  not  transportation,  although  I  had  all  the  transport  force  in  the  hands 
of  the  quartermaster  here  to  aid  the  bay  line  of  steamers,  which,  by  the 
same  order  from  the  lieutenant-general,  was  directed  to  furnish  transpor- 
tation. Up  to,  and  at  the  time  of  the  order,  I  had  been  preparing  for  aft 
advance  movement,  by  which  I  hoped  to  cripple  the  resources  of  the  enemy 
at  Yorktown,  and  especially  by  seizing  a  large  quantity  of  negroes  who 
were  being  pressed  into  their  service  in  building  the  intrenchments  there. 
I  had  five  days  previously  been  enabled  to  mount,  for  the  first  time,  the 
first  company  of  light  artillery,  which  I  had  been  empowered  to  raise,  and 
they  had  but  a  single  rifled  cannon,  an  iron  six-pounder.  Of  course,  every- 
thing must  and  did  yield  to  the  supposed  exigency  and  the  orders.  This 
ordering  away  the  troops  from  this  department,  while  it  weakened  the 
posts  at  Newport  News,  necessitated  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops  from 
Hampton,  where  I  was  then  throwing  up  intrenched  works  to  enable  me 
to  hold  the  town  with  a  small  force,  while  I  advanced  up  the  York  or  James 
Kiver.  In  the  village  of  Hampton  there  were  a  large  number  of  negroes, 
composed  in  a  great  measure  of  women  and  children  of  the  men  who  had 
fled  thither  within  my  lines  for  protection,  who  had  escaped  from  maraud- 
ing parties  of  rebels  who  had  been  gathering  up  able-bodied  blacks  to  aid 
them  in  constructing  their  batteries  on  the  James  and  York  Eivers.  I  had 
employed  the  men  in  Hampton  in  throwing  up  intrenchments,  and  they 
were  working  zealously  and  efficiently  at  that  duty,  saving  our  soldiers  from 
that  labor  under  the  gleam  of  the  mid-day  sun.  The  women  were  earning 
substantially  their  own  subsistence  in  washing,  marketing,  and  taking  care 
of  the  clothes  of  the  soldiers,  and  rations  were  being  served  out  to  the  men 
who  worked  for  the  support  of  the  children.  But  by  the  evacuation  of 
Hampton,  rendered  necessary  by  the  withdrawal  of  troops,  leaving  me 
scarcely  five  thousand  men  outside  the  fort,  including  the  force  at  Newport 
News,  all  these  black  people  were  obliged  to  break  up  their  homes  at  Hamp- 
ton, fleeing  across  the  creek  within  my  lines  for  protection  and  support. 
Indeed,  it  was  a  most  distressing  sight  to  see  these  poor  creatures,  who  had 
trusted  to  the  protection  of  the  arms  of  the  United  States,  and  who  aided 
the  troops  of  the  United  States  in  their  enterprise,  to  be  thus  obliged  to 
flee  from  their  homes,  and  the  homes  of  their  masters  who  had  deserted 
them,  and  become  fugitives  from  fear  of  the  return  of  the  rebel  soldiery, 
who  had  threatened  to  shoot  the  men  who  had  wrought  for  us,  and  to  carry 
off  the  women  who  had  served  us,  to  a  worse  than  Egyptian  bondage.  I 
have,  therefore,  now  within  the  peninsula,  this  side  of  Hampton  Creek, 
nine  hundred  negroes,  three  hundred  of  whom  are  able-bodied  men,  thirty 


170  RECALL   FHOM    VIRGINIA. 

of  whom  are  men  substantially  past  hard  labor,  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  women,  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  children  under  the  age  of  teu 
years,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy  between  ten  and  eighteen  years,  and 
many  more  coming  in.  The  questions  which  this  state  of  facts  present  are 
very  embarrassing. 

"  First.  What  shall  be  done  with  them?  and,  Second.  What  is  their  state 
and  condition  ? 

"  Upon  these  questions  I  desire  the  instructions  of  the  department. 

"  The  first  question,  however,  may  perhaps  be  answered  by  considering  the 
last.  Are  these  men,  women,  and  children  slaves?  Are  they  free?  Is 
their  condition  that  of  men,  women,  and  children,  or  of  property,  or  is  it  a 
mixed  relation  ?  What  their  status  was  under  the  constitution  and  laws,  we 
all  know.  What  has  been  the  effect  of  a  rebellion  and  a  state  of  war  upon 
that  status  ?  When  I  adopted  the  theory  of  treating  the  able-bodied  negro 
fit  to  work  in  the  trenches  as  property  liable  to  be  used  in  aid  of  rebellion, 
and  so  contraband  of  war,  that  condition  of  things  was  in  so  far  met,  as  I 
then  and  still  believe,  on  a  legal  and  constitutional  basis.  But  now  a  new 
series  of  questions  arise.  Passing  by  women,  the  children,  certainly,  can 
not  be  treated  on  that  basis;  if  property,  they  must  be  considered  the  in- 
cumbrance rather  than  the  auxiliary  of  an  army,  and,  of  course,  in  no  pos- 
sible legal  relation  could  be  treated  as  contraband.  Are  they  property  ? 
If  they  were  so,  they  have  been  left  by  their  masters  and  owners,  deserted, 
thrown  away,  abandoned,  like  the  wrecked  vessel  upon  the  ocean.  Their 
former  possessors  and  owners  have  causelessly,  traitorously,  rebelliously, 
and,  to  carry  out  the  figure,  practically  abandoned  them  to  be  swallowed 
up  by  the  winter  storm  of  starvation.  If  property,  do  they  not  become 
the  property  of  the  salvors?  But  we,  their  salvors,  do  not  need  and  will 
not  hold  such  property,  and  will  assume  no  such  ownership :  has  not, 
therefore,  all  proprietary  relation  ceased  ?  Have  they  not  become,  there- 
upon, men,  women,  and  children  ?  JSTo  longer  under  ownership  of  any  kind, 
the  fearful  relicts  of  fugitive  masters,  have  they  not  by  their  masters'  acts, 
and  the  state  of  war,  assumed  the  condition,  which  we  hold  to  be  the  nor- 
mal one,  of  those  made  in  God's  image  ?  Is  not  every  constitutional,  legal, 
and  moral  requirement,  as  well  to  the  runaway  master  as  their  relinquished 
slaves,  thus  answered  ?  I  confess  that  my  own  mind  is  compelled  by  this 
reasoning  to  look  upon  them  as  men  and  women.  If  not  free  born,  yet 
free,  manumitted,  sent  forth  from  the  hand  that  held  them  never  to  be  re- 
claimed. 

Of  course,  if  this  reasoning,  thus  imperfectly  set  forth,  is  correct,  my  duty 
as  a  humane  man  is  very  plain.  I  should  take  the  same  care  of  these  men, 
women,  and  children,  houseless,  homeless,  and  unprovided  for,  as  I  would 
of  the  same  number  of  men,  women,  and  children,  who,  for  their  attach- 
ment to  the  Union,  had  been  driven  or  allowed  to  flee  from  the  Confederate 


RECALL   FROM    VIRGINIA.  171 

States.  I  should  have  no  doubt  on  this  question,  had  I  not  seen  it  stated 
that  an  order  had  been  issued  by  General  McDowell  in  his  department,  sub- 
stantially forbidding  all  fugitive  slaves  from  coming  within  his  lines,  or  be- 
ing harbored  there.  Is  that  order  to  be  enforced  in  all  military  depart- 
ments? If  so,  who  are  to  be  considered  fugitive  slaves?  Is  a  slave  to  be 
considered  fugitive  whose  master  runs  away  and  leaves  him  ?  Is  it  forbid- 
den to  the  troops  to  aid  or  harbor  within  their  lines  the  negro  children  who 
are  found  therein,  or  is  the  soldier,  when  his  march  has  destroyed  their 
means  of  subsistence,  to  allow  them  to  starve  because  he  has  driven  off  the 
rebel  masters  ?  Now,  shall  the  commander  of  a  regiment  or  battalion  sit 
in  judgment  upon  the  question,  whether  any  given  black  man  has  fled  from 
his  master,  or  his  master  fled  from  him?  Indeed,  how  are  the  free  born  to 
be  distinguished  ?  Is  one  any  more  or  less  a  fugitive  slave  because  he  has 
labored  upon  the  rebel  intrenchments  ?  If  he  has  so  labored,  if  I  under- 
stand it,  he  is  to  be  harbored.  By  the  reception  of  which  are  the  rebels 
most  to  be  distressed,  by  taking  those  who  have  wrought  all  their  rebel 
masters  desired,  masked  their  battery,  or  those  who  have  refused  to  labor 
and  left  the  battery  unmasked  ? 

"  I  have  very  decided  opinions  upon  the  subject  of  this  order.  It  does 
not  become  me  to  criticise  it,  and  I  write  in  no  spirit  of  criticism,  but  sim- 
ply to  explain  the  full  difficulties  that  surround  the  enforcing  it.  If  the 
enforcement  of  that  order  becomes  the  policy  of  the  government,  T,  as  a 
soldier,  shall  be  bound  to  enforce  it  steadfastly,  if  not  cheerfully.  But  if 
left  to  my  own  discretion,  as  you  may  have  gathered  from  my  reasoning, 
I  should  take  a  widely  different  course  from  that  which  it  indicates. 

"  In  a  loyal  state,  I  would  put  down  a  servile  insurrection.  In  a  state  of 
rebellion  I  would  confiscate  that  which  was  used  to  oppose  my  arms,  and 
take  all  that  property  which  constituted  the  wealth  of  that  state,  and  fur- 
nished the  means  by  which  the  war  is  prosecuted,  beside  being  the  cause 
of  the  war ;  and  if,  in  so  doing,  it  should  be  objected  that  human  beings 
were  brought  to  the  free  enjoyment  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  hap- 
piness, such  objection  might  not  require  much  consideration. 

"  Pardon  me  for  addressing  the  secretary  of  war  directly  upon  this  ques- 
tion, as  it  involves  some  political  considerations  as  well  as  propriety  of  mili- 
tary action.     I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

''Benjamin  F.  Butler." 

ME.    CAMEEON   TO    GENEEAL   BTJTLEB. 

"  Washington,  August  8,  1861. 
"  General  : — The  important  question  of  the  proper  disposition  to  be  made 
of  fugitives  from  service  in  the  states  in  insurrection  against  the  federal 
government,  to  which  you  have  again  directed  my  attention,  in  your  letter 

b 


172  RECATJ,   FROM   VIRGINIA. 

of  July  30,  has  received  my  most  attentive  consideration.  It  is  the  desire 
of  the  president  that  all  existing  rights  in  all  the  states  be  fully  respected 
and  maintained.  The  war  now  prosecuted  on  the  part  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment is  a  war  for  the  Union,  for  the  preservation  of  all  the  constitu- 
tional rights  of  the  states  and  the  citizens  of  the  states  in  the  Union ;  hence 
no  question  can  arise  as  to  fugitives  from  service  within  the  states  and 
territories  in  which  the  authority  of  the  Union  is  fully  acknowledged.  The 
ordinary  forms  of  judicial  proceedings  must  be  respected  by  the  military 
and  civil  authorities  alike  for  the  enforcement  of  legal  forms.  But  in  the 
states  wholly  or  in  part  under  insurrectionary  control,  where  the  laws  of 
the  United  States  are  so  far  opposed  and  resisted  that  they  can  not  be  effec- 
tually enforced,  it  is  obvious  that  the  rights  dependent  upon  the  execution 
of  these  laws  must  temporarily  fail ;  and  it  is  equally  obvious  that  the  rights 
dependent  on  the  laws  of  the  states  within  which  military  operations  are 
conducted  must  necessarily  be  subordinate  to  the  military  exigencies  created 
by  the  insurrection,  if  not  wholly  forfeited  by  the  treasonable  conduct  of 
the  parties  claiming  them.  To  this  the  general  rule  of  the  right  to  service 
forms  an  exception.  The  act  of  Congress  approved  August  6,  1861,  de- 
clares if  persons  held  to  service  shall  be  employed  in  hostility  to  the  United 
States,  the  right  to  their  services  shall  be  discharged  therefrom.  It  follows 
of  necessity  that  no  claim  can  be  recognized  by  the  military  authority  of  the 
Union  to  the  services  of  such  persons  when  fugitives. 

"  A  more  difficult  question  is  presented  in  respect  to  persons  escaping  from 
the  service  of  loyal  masters.  It  is  quite  apparent  that  the  laws  of  the  state 
under  which  only  the  services  of  such  fugitives  can  be  claimed  must  needs 
be  wholly  or  almost  wholly  superseded,  as  to  the  remedies,  by  the  insur- 
rection and  the  military  measures  necessitated  by  it ;  and  it  is  equally  ap- 
parent that  the  substitution  of  military  for  judicial  measures  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  such  claims  must  be  attended  by  great  inconvenience,  embarrass- 
ments, and  injuries.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  seems  quite  clear  that 
the  substantial  rights  of  loyal  masters  are  still  best  protected  by  receiving 
such  fugitives,  as  well  as  fugitives  from  disloyal  masters,  into  the  service 
of  the  United  States  and  employing  them  under  such  organizations  and  in 
such  occupations  as  circumstances  may  suggest  or  require.  Of  course  a 
record  should  be  kept  showing  the  names  and  descriptions  of  the  fugitives, 
the  names  and  characters,  as  loyal  or  disloyal,  of  the  masters,  and  such 
facts  as  may  be  necessary  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  circumstancc3 
of  each  case. 

"  After  tranquillity  shall  have  oeen  restored  upon  the  return  of  peace, 
congress  will  doubtless  properly  provide  for  all  the  persons  thus  received 
into  the  service  of  the  Union,  and  for  a  just  compensation  to  loyal  masters. 
In  this  way  only,  it  would  seem,  can  the  duty  and  safety  of  the  government 
and  just  rights  of  all  be  fully  reconciled  and  harmonized.     You  will  there- 


RECALL   FROM   VIRGINIA.  173 

fore  consider  yourself  instructed  to  govern  your  future  action  in  respect  to 
fugitives  from  service  by  the  premises  herein  stated,  and  will  report  from 
time  to  time,  and  at  least  twice  in  each  month,  your  action  in  the  premises 
to  this  department.  You  will,  however,  neither  authorize  nor  permit  any 
interference  by  the  troops  under  your  command  with  the  servants  of  peace- 
able citizens  in  a  house  or  field,  nor  will  you  in  any  manner  encourage  such 
servants  to  leave  the  lawful  service  of  their  masters,  nor  will  you,  except  in 
cases  where  the  public  good  may  seem  to  require  it,  prevent  the  voluntary 
return  of  any  fugitive  to  the  service  from  which  he  may  have  escaped. 
I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  Simon  Cameron,  Secretary  of  War." 

Mr.  Cameron  handled  the  topic  gingerly.  The  administration 
had  not  yet  taken  off  its  gloves. 

General  Butler's  letter  pleased  most  the  party  most  opposed  to 
the  one  with  which  he  had  been  all  his  life  identified.  We  find 
Mr.  Lewis  Tappan  writing  to  him  applaudingly,  and  the  general 
replying  in  a  friendly  spirit.     He  wrote  to  Mr.  Tappan,  August  10th : 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  many  kind  expressions  of 
approbation  of  my  acts.  I  have  endeavored  to  do  my  duty,  follow- 
ing the  best  light  I  have,  and  the  event  must  be  in  the  hands  of 
Him  who  ordereth  all  things  well.  I  am  of  opinion,  that  it  would 
not  be  profitable  to  the  negroes  to  be  sent  north.  There  is  plenty 
of  waste  land  for  them  here,  and  they  can  be  better  and  more 
cheaply  cared  for  here  than  amid  the  rigor  of  our  northern  winter. 

"  They  are  at  present,  in  my  judgment,  earning  the  subsistence 
furnished  them  by  the  United  States,  and  if  any  benevolent  in- 
dividual desires  to  show  active  sympathy  in  their  behalf,  I  would 
recommend  that  the  committee  you  suggest,  furnish  a  number  of 
suits  of  substantial  cheap  clothing  fit  for  winter  service,  for  the  women 
and  children.  Shoes  are  especially  desirable.  I  will  see  that  such 
clothing  is  distributed  among  them  according  to  their  necessities. 
The  clothing  for  the  men  will  soon  be  worn  out,  and  as  you  are 
aware,  we  have  no  supply.  Many  of  them  are  now  dressed  in  the 
cast-off  clothing  and  uniforms  of  the  soldiers. 

"  This  is  all  the  particular  aid,  I  think,  we  are  in  a  situation  to 
receive  for  them  at  this  time. 

"  To  send  them  north,  amid  the  stagnation  of  business,  and  at  a 
season  when  all  agricultural  operations,  except  harvesting,  are 
about  to  be  suspended,  to  fill  our  towns  with  a  new  influx  of 


174  RECALL   FROM   VIRGINIA. 

people,  where  labor  is  not  wanted,  while  here  in  Virginia  there  is 
land  enough  cultivated,  and  houses  enough  deserted,  amid  scenes 
to  which  they  are  attached,  where  they  may  live,  would  in  my 
judgment,  be  unwise. 

"If  the  war  continues,  they  will  be  safe  here.  If  the  war  ends, 
the  wisdom  and  the  care  of  the  government  will  be  exerted  for 
their  protection  here  or  elsewhere.  This  part  of  the  state  is  but 
little  more  cultivated  than  in  the  days  of  Powhattan ;  and  it  would 
seem  hardly  prudent  to  take  away  from  it  a  class  of  mostly  agri- 
cultural laborers,  who  are  fitted  to  the  soil. 

"  The  most  of  them  would  not  desire  to  go  north,  if  they  can 
be  assured  (as  I  can  assure  them)  of  their  safety  at  the  south.  I 
shall  continue  to  receive  and  protect  all  the  negroes,  especially 
women  and  children,  who  come  to  me,  as  well  for  reasons  of 
humanity  as  for  strategical  policy,  of  which  it  is  not  now  best  to 
speak." 

The  southern  people,  it  is  worth  remarking,  had  already  shown 
their  sense  of  General  Butler's  services  to  his  country.  They  knew 
their  enemy.  It  has  been  their  cue  to  compliment  some  of  the 
generals  conspicuous  in  the  service  of  the  United  States ;  but  for 
Mm,  who  first  established  the  rule  of  employing  the  courtesies 
which  mitigate  the  horrors  of  war,  they  have  had  only  vitupera- 
tion. They  were  right  in  their  instinctive  perceptions,  for  he  was 
also  the  first  to  recognize  them  as  enemies  incurable,  whose  destruc- 
tion as  a  power  was  essential  to  the  restoration  of  the  country. 
Few  readers  can  have  forgotten  the  biography  of  General  Butler 
which  circulated  in  southern  newspapers  in  these  months.  It  ran 
thus: 

"  He  is  the  son  of  a  negro  barber,  who,  early  in  the  century,  did 
business  on  Poydras  street,  in  New  Orleans.  The  son,  in  early 
manhood,  emigrated  to  Liberia,  where  an  indisposition  for  labor 
and  some  talent  turned  his  attention  to  the  bar,  to  prepare  for 
which  he  repaired  to  Massachusetts.  Having  mastered  his  profes- 
sion, he  acquired  a  fondness  for  theological  studies,  and  became  an 
active  local  preacher,  the  course  of  his  labors  early  leading  him  to 
New  York,  where  he  attracted  the  notice  of  Mr.  Jacob  Barker, 
then  in  the  zenith  of  his  fame  as  financier,  and  who,  discovering 
the  peculiar  abilities  in  that  direction  of  the  young  mulatto,  sent 
him  to  northern  New  York  to  manage  a  banking  institution.  There 


RECALL   FROM    VIRGINIA.  175 

he  divided  his  time  between  the  counting-house  and  the  court-room, 
the  prayer-meeting  and  the  printing-office,"  etc. 

This,  with  a  variety  of  comments,  was  the  southern  response  to 
Annapolis  and  Baltimore. 

The  North  seemed  slower  to  recognize  his  services.  After  the 
withdrawal  of  the  four  regiments,  he  found  himself  in  a  false  posi- 
tion at  Fortress  Monroe,  incapable  of  acting,  yet  expected  by  the 
country  to  act.  His  embarrassment  was  not  diminished  by  discov- 
ering that  the  intention  to  remove  his  troops  was  known  and  pub- 
lished before  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  that  they  were  still 
detained  at  Baltimore  inactive. 

"  As  soon,"  he  wrote  to  Colonel  Baker,  "  as  I  began  to  look  like 
activity,  my  troops  are  all  taken  away.  And  almost  my  only 
friend  and  counselor,  on  whose  advice  I  could  rely,  is  taken  away 
by  name.  *  *  *  *  What  ought  I  to  do  under  these 
circumstances  ?  I  ought  not  to  stay  here  and  be  thus  abused.  Tell 
me  as  a  true  friend,  as  I  know  you  are,  what  ought  to  be  done  in 
justice  to  myself.  To  resign,  when  the  country  needs  service,  is  un- 
patriotic. To  hold  office  which  government  believes  me  unfit  for,  is 
humiliating.  To  remain  here  disgraced  and  thwarted  by  every 
subordinate  who  is  sustained  by  the  head  of  the  department,  is  un- 
bearable." 

The  government  resolved  his  doubts.  A  day  or  two  after  the 
reply  to  General  Butler's  contraband  letter  had  been  dispatched,  he 
was  removed  from  the  command  of  the  department,  and  General 
Wool  appointed  in  his  stead.  Whether  the  two  acts  had  any  con- 
nection, or  whether  the  removal  was  a  compliance  with  the  sugges- 
tions of  a  leading  newspaper,  has  not  been  disclosed.  "  General 
Wool,"  commented  the  New  York  Times,  "  is  assigned  the  com- 
mand of  Fortress  Monroe.  So  far,  so  good.  The  nation  was 
deeply  dissatisfied,  not  to  say  indignant,  at  the  fact  that  one  of  the 
bravest,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  skillful  and  experienced  of 
American  generals,  was  persistently  kept  in  quiet  retreat  at  Troy, 
N.  Y.,  while  political  brigadiers  were  fretting  away  the  spirit  of 
the  army  by  awkward  blunderings  upon  masked  batteries."  There 
had,  indeed,  been  much  clamor  of  this  kind,  and  worse.  One  gal- 
lant colonel,  removed  from  his  command  for  drunkenness,  had 
caused  letters  to  be  published,  accusing  General  Butler  of  disloy- 
alty.   Other  officers,  who  had  left  the  service  for  the  service's  good, 


1 76  HATTERAS. 

were  not  silent,  and  one  or  two  reporters,  who  had  been  ordered 
away  from  the  post,  still  had  the  use  of  their  pens.  Nor  had  the 
public  the  means  of  understanding  the  causes  of  General  Butler's 
inactivity.  They  saw  the  most  important  military  post  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  United  States,  apparently  well  supplied  with  troops, 
contributing  nothing  to  the  military  strength  of  the  country.  The 
blame  was  naturally  laid  at  the  door  of  the  general  commanding  it. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  August,  General  Butler  gracefully  resigned 
the  command  of  the  department  to  his  successor.  In  his  farewell 
order  he  said  :  "  The  general  takes  leave  of  the  command  of  the 
officers  and  soldiers  of  this  department  with  the  kindest  feelings 
toward  all,  and  with  the  hope  that  in  active  service  upon  the  field, 
they  may  soon  signalize  their  bravery  and  gallant  conduct,  as  they 
have  shown  their  patriotism  by  fortitude  under  the  fatigues  of  camp 
duty.  No  personal  feeling  of  regret  intrudes  itself  at  the  change  in 
the  command  of  the  department,  by  which  our  cause  acquires  the 
services  in  the  field  of  the  veteran  general  commanding,  in  whose 
abilities,  experience  and  devotion  to  the  flag,  the  whole  country 
places  the  most  implicit  reliance,  and  under  whose  guidance  and 
command  all  of  us,  and  none  more  than  your  late  commander,  are 
proud  to  serve." 

He  had  been  in  command  of  the  department  of  Virginia  two 
months  and  twenty-seven  days. 


CHAPTER   X. 


HATTERAS. 


The  order  which  relieved  General  Butler  from  command  in  Vir- 
ginia assigned  him  to  no  other  duty.  He  was  simply  ordered  to 
resign  his  command  to  General  Wool.  Whether  he  was  to  remain 
at  the  fortress,  or  repair  to  head-quarters,  or  go  home,  was  left  to 
conjecture.  What  should  he  do?  Where  should  he  go?  Friends 
unanimously  advised :  c  Go  home.  The  government  plainly  inti- 
mates that  it  does  not  want  you.'     The  game  is  lost ;  throw  up  your 


HATTERAS.  Ill 

hand.  "  No,"  said  he,  "  whatever  I  do,  I  can't  go  home.  That 
were  the  end  of  my  military  career,  and  I  am  in  for  the  war."  It 
ended  in  his  asking  General  Wool  for  something  to  do  ;  and  Gen- 
eral Wool,  who  could  not  but  see  what  efficient  service  he  had  ren- 
dered at  the  post,  and  heartily  acknowledged  it,  gave  him  the  com- 
mand of  the  volunteer  troops  outside  the  fortress.*  So  he  vacated 
the  mansion  within  the  walls,  and  served  where  he  had  been  wont 
to  rule. 

A  week  after,  the  expedition  to  reduce  the  forts  at  Hatteras  Inlet 
was  on  the  point  of  sailing.  It  was  a  scheme  of  the  general's  own. 
A  Union  prisoner  being  detained  at  the  inlet,  had  brought  the 
requisite  information  to  the  fortress  many  weeks  before.  He  said, 
that  through  that  gap  in  the  long  sand-island  which  runs  along  the 
cc?.st  of  North  Carolina,  numberless  blockade  runners  found  access 
to  the  main  land.  His  report  being  duly  conveyed  to  head-quarters, 
a  joint  expedition,  military  and  naval,  was  ordered  to  take  the  forts, 
destroy  them,  block  up  the  inlet  with  sunken  stone,  and  return  to 
Fortress  Monroe.  Preparations  for  this  expedition  were  at  full  tide 
when  General  Butler  was  superseded.  Nine  hundred  troops  were 
detailed  to  accompany  it ;  a  small  corps  for  a  major-general.  Gen- 
eral Butler  volunteered  to  command  them,  and  General  Wool  ac- 
cepted his  offer ;  kind  friends  whispering,  " infra  dig" 

He  went.  Every  one  remembers  the  details  of  that  first  cheering 
success  after  the  summer  of  our  discontent.  It  seemed  to  break 
the  spell  of  disaster,  and  gave  encouragement  to  the  country,  dispro 
portioned  to  the  magnitude  of  the  achievement.  General  Butler 
enjoyed  a  share  of  the  eclat,  which  restored  much  of  the  public  favor 
lost  at  Great  Bethel. 

Two  points  of  the  general's  conduct  on  this  occasion,  we  may 
notice  before  passing  on  to  more  stirring  scenes.  The  reader  has 
not  forgotten,  that  the  rebel  commander  first  offered  to  surrender, 
provided  the  garrison  were  allowed  to  retire,  and  that  General  But- 


*    "  HEAD-QUARTER3,    DEPARTMENT   OF   VIRGINIA, 

"Fortress  Monroe,  Virginia,  August  21, 1861. 
"Special  Orders,  No.  9. 

"  Major-General  B.  F.  Butler  is,  hereby  placed  in  command  of  the  volunteer  forces  in  this  depart- 
ment, exclusive  of  those  at  Fort  Monroe.  His  present  command  at  Camps  Butler  and  Hamilton 
will  include  the  First,  Second,  Seventh,  Ninth,  and  Twentieth  regiments,  the  battalion  of  Massa- 
chusetts volunteers,  the  Union  Coast  Guard,  and  the  Mounted  Rifles. 

"  C.  C.  Churchill,  Acting  Assistant  Adjutant- General. 
"By  command  of  Major-General  Wool." 


178  HATTEEAS. 

ler  refused  the  terms,  demanding  unconditional  surrender.  "  The 
Adelaide,"  he  reports,  "  on  carrying  in  the  troops,  at  the  moment 
my  terms  of  capitulation  were  under  consideration  by  the  enemy, 
had  grounded  upon  the  bar.  *  •  At  the  same  time,  the  Harriet 
Lane,  in  attempting  to  enter  the  bar  had  grounded,  and  remained 
fast ;  both  were  under  the  guns  of  the  fort.  By  these  accidents,  a 
valuable  ship  of  war,  and  a  transport  steamer,  with  a  large  portion 
of  my  troops,  were  within  the  power  of  the  enemy.  I  had  demand- 
ed the  strongest  terms,  which  he  was  considering.  He  might  re- 
fuse, and  seeing  our  disadvantage,  renew  the  action.  But  I  deter- 
mined to  abate  not  a  tittle  of  what  I  considered  to  be  due  to  the 
dignity  of  the  government ;  nor  even  to  give  an  official  title  to  the 
officer  in  command  of  the  rebels.  Besides,  my  tug  was  in  the  inlet, 
and,  at  least,  I  could  carry  on  the  engagement  with  my  two  rifled 
six-pounders,  well  supplied  with  Sawyer's  shell."  It  was  an  anx- 
ious moment,  but  his  terms  were  accepted,  and  the  victory  was 
complete. 

One  of  the  guns  of  the  Minnesota  was  worked  during  the  action 
by  contrabands  from  Fortress  Monroe.  The  danger  was  slight, 
for  the  enemy's  balls  fell  short.  But  it  was  observed  and  freely 
acknowledged  on  all  hands,  that  no  gun  in  the  fleet  was  more 
steadily  served  than  theirs,  and  no  men  more  composed  than  they 
when  danger  was  supposed  to  be  imminent.  In  action  and  out  of 
action  their  conduct  was  everything  that  could  be  desired. 

The  other  matter  which  demands  a  word  of  explanation,  relates 
to  General  Butler's  sudden  return  from  Hatteras,  which  elicited 
sundry  satirical  remarks  at  the  time.  He  had  been  ordered  not  to 
hold  but  to  destroy  the  port.  But  on  surveying  the  position,  he  was  so 
much  impressed  with  the  importance  of  retaining  it,  that  he  resolved 
to  go  instantly  to  Washington  and  explain  his  views  to  the  gov- 
ernment. He  did  so,  and  the  government  determined  to  hold  the 
place.  Nor  was  haste  unnecessary,  since  supplies  had  been  brought 
for  only  five  days.  The  troops  must  have  been  immediately  with- 
drawn or  immediately  provisioned. 

And  now  again  he  was  without  a  command.  The  government 
did  not  know  what  to  do  with  him,  and  he  did  not  know  what  to 
do  with  himself.  Recruiting  was  generally  at  a  stand  still,  and  there 
were  no  troops  in  the  field  that  had  not  their  full  allowance  of 
major  generals.      West  Point  influence  was  in  the  ascendant,  as 


RECRUITING   FOR   SPECIAL   SERVICE.  1*79 

surely  it  ought  to  be  in  time  of  war ;  and  this  lawyer  in  epaulets 
seemed  to  be  rather  in  the  way  than  otherwise. 


CHAPTER  XL 

RECRUITING  FOR   SPECIAL   SERVICE. 

General  Butler  now  recalled  the  attention  of  the  government 
to  his  scheme  for  expelling  rebel  forces  from  the  Virginia  penin- 
sula, which  had  been  suspended  by  the  sudden  transfer  of  Colonel 
Baker  and  his  command  from  Fortress  Monroe.  He  obtained 
authority  from  the  war  department  to  recruit  troops  in  Massachu- 
setts for  this  purpose.  Recruiting  seemed  to  be  proceeding  some- 
what languidly  in  the  state,  although  her  quota  was  yet  far  from 
full ;  and  it  was  supposed,  that  General  Butler  could  strike  a  vein 
of  hunker  democrats  which  would  yield  good  results.  Not  that 
hunker  democrats  had  been  backward  in  enlisting;  but  it  was 
thought  that  many  of  them  who  still  hesitated  would  rally  to  the 
standard  of  one  who  had  so  often  led  them  in  the  mimic  war  of 
elections.  On  going  home,  however,  he  found  that  General  Sher- 
man was  before  him  in  special  recruiting,  and  that  to  him  Gover- 
nor Andrew  had  promised  the  first  regiments  that  should  be  com- 
pleted. He  hastened  back  to  Washington.  He  had  been  engaged 
to  speak  in  Faneuil  Hall,  but  left  a  note  of  excuse,  ending  with 
these  words :  "  That  I  go  for  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  is 
best  shown  by  the  fact  that  I  am  gone."  At  Washington,  a  change 
of  programme.  He  penned  an  order,  dated  Sept.  10th,  enlarging 
his  sphere  of  operations  to  all  New  England,  which  the  secretary 
of  war  signed : — 

"Major-General  B.  F.  Butler  is  hereby  authorized  to  raise,  or- 
ganize, arm,  uniform,  and  equip  a  volunteer  force  for  the  war,  in 
the  New  England  states ;  not  exceeding  six  (6)  regiments  of  the 
maximum  standard,  of  such  arms,  and  in  such  proportions,  and  in 
such  manner  as  he  may  judge  expedient ;  and  for  this  purpose  his 
orders  and  requisitions  on  the  quartermaster,  ordnance,  and  other 
8* 


180  RECRUITING    FOR    SPECIAL   SERVICE. 

staff  departments  of  the  army,  are  to  be  obeyed  and  answered: 
provided  the  cost  of  such  recruitment,  armament,  and  equipment 
does  not  exceed,  in  the  aggregate,  that  of  like  troops,  now  or  here- 
after raised,  for  the  service  of  the  United  States." 

To  make  assurance  doubly  sure,  he  asked  the  additional  sanction 
of  the  president's  signature.  The  cautious  president,  always  punc- 
tiliously respectful  to  state  authority,  first  procured  by  telegraph 
the  assent  of  all  the  governors  of  New  England,  and  then  signed 
the  order. 

It  was  upon  General  Butler's  return  to  New  England  to  raise 
these  troops,  that  the  collision  occurred  between  himself  and  the 
governor  of  Massachusetts,  which  caused  so  much  perplexity  to  all 
the  parties  concerned.  "Without  wishing  to  revive  the  ill  feeling  of 
a  controversy  between  gentlemen  equally  devoted  to  the  common 
cause,  it  appears,  nevertheless,  unavoidable  to  explain  the  point  of 
collision.  At  first,  I  was  inclined  to  think  that  General  Butler,  in 
the  impetuosity  of  his  desire  to  take  the  field,  had  given  the  gover- 
nor just  cause  of  offense.  Upon  a  review  of  the  whole  case,  as 
published  in  divers  pamphlets,  official  and  unofficial,  it  appears 
clearly  enough,  that  Governor  Andrew  was  justified  in  taking  of- 
fense ;  but  it  is  equally  clear  that  no  offense  was  intended  by  Gene- 
ral Butler;  and  that,  hurried  as  he  was,  he  employed  reasonable 
means  to  come  to  a  friendly  understanding  with  the  governor. 
The  case,  as  I  understand  it,  illustrates  the  old  Spanish  maxim,  that 
when  two  honest  men  differ,  both  are  in  the  right. 

Perhaps,  there  was  already  a  slight  soreness  in  the  governor's 
mind  owing  to  the  publication  by  General  Butler  of  the  corres- 
pondence relating  to  the  offer  of  Massachusetts  troops  to  Governor 
Hicks,  for  the  suppression  of  an  insurrection  of  the  slaves.  General 
Butler  published  these  letters,  because  the  Boston  correspondent 
of  the  Tribune  had  informed  the  public  that  Governor  Andrew  dis- 
approved the  offer  of  the  troops  for  such  a  purpose.  The  act  was 
also  freely  commented  upon  in  the  newspapers.  A  question  arose 
as  to  the  source  of  the  correspondent's  information.  General  But- 
ler emphatically  exonerated  the  governor,  but  intimated  that,  per- 
haps, some  clerk  or  copyist  had  betrayed  his  trust.  The  private 
secretary  of  the  governor,  who  alone  had  charge  of  the  governor's 
papers,  conceived  that  this  intimation  was  pointed  at  him,  and  re> 
sented  it  accordingly.     A  private  secretary,  posted  as  he  is  close  to 


RECRUITING    FOE    SPECIAL   SERVICE.  1?1 

the  ear  of  his  chief,  can  not  but  have  considerable  influence  over 
him.  A  private  secretary  has  sometimes  been  a  governor's  gover- 
nor, a  general's  general,  a  prime  minister's  prime  minister.  Private 
secretaries  have  ruled  empires.  It  is,  at  least,  not  desirable  to  have 
the  ill-will  of  a  private  secretary  if  you  wish  to  stand  well  with  his 
chief.  You  might  almost  as  well  slight  the  king's  mistress,  and 
then  ask  a  favor  of  the  king.  I  do  not  suppose  that  the  worthy 
and  patriotic  governor  of  Massachusetts  was  unduly  influenced  by 
his  secretary.  But  he  is  a  human  being,  and  his  secretary  felt  ag- 
grieved at  General  Butler. 

The  true  cause  of  the  difficulty  was  the  chaos  that  reigned  in  the 
war  department  at  Washington.  Mr.  Cameron  was  a  faithful  and 
most  laborious  minister ;  but  probably  no  man  ever  existed  capa- 
ble of  really  doing  the  work  suddenly  accumulated  upon  the  sec- 
retary of  war  by  the  stupendous  scale  upon  which  the  military 
operations  of  the  government  were  undertaken.  We  did  not  em- 
brace the  war  as  the  settled  business  of  the  country  for  years,  but 
as  if  preparing  for  two  or  three  enormous  raids  into  an  enemy's 
country.  Hurry,  confusion,  incoherence,  marked  all  our  first  pro- 
ceedings. Mr.  Cameron  did  what  he  could ;  but  much  remained 
undone  ;  much  was  done  amiss  ;  much  was  necessarily  left  to  sub- 
ordinates. There  was  no  time  for  deliberation ;  everything  had  to 
be  decided  on  the  instant.  In  such  circumstances,  a  man  must  have 
the  memory  of  a  Butler  to  avoid  giving  contradictory  orders.  It 
should  be  also  noted,  that  General  Butler  is  one  of  those  gentle- 
men who  can  say  ISTo,  with  delightful  promptness  and  unmistakable 
emphasis,  but  to  whom  it  is  difficult  to  say  No;  and  both  the 
president  and  the  secretary  of  war  were  disposed  to  comply 
with  the  desires  of  a  man  wThose  talents  and  energy  they  appre- 
ciated. 

General  Sherman,  as  we  have  said,  was  already  in  Massachusetts 
recruiting  for  Port  Royal.  Another  gentleman  had  also  received 
authority  from  the  war  department  to  raise  a  regiment  in  Massa- 
chusetts. The  governor  objecting  to  this  special  recruiting,  re- 
monstrated, and  the  secretary  promised,  August  28,  that  no  more 
such  authorizations  should  be  issued.  The  president,  also,  Septem- 
ber Gth,  spoke  of  "  the  impossibility  of  relying  upon  the  states  to 
respond  promptly  to  regular  requisitions  for  troops,  if  their  recruit- 
ing  system  should  be  harassed  by  the  competition  of  individuals 


182  EECEUIT1NG    FOE   SPECIAL   SEEVICE. 

engaged  in  recruiting  under  independent  permissions ;  but  he  said 
such  independent  permissions  as  had  hitherto  been  issued,  had  been 
extorted  by  the  pressure  of  certain  persons,  who,  if  they  had  been 
refused,  would  have  accused  the  government  of  rejecting  the  ser- 
vices of  so  many  thousands  of  imaginary  men ;  a  pressure,  of  the 
persistency  of  which,  no  person  not  subjected  to  it  could  conceive. 
He  said  that  perhaps  he  had  been  in  error  in  granting  such  inde- 
pendent permissions  at  all,  even  under  this  pressure." 

Hence,  before  sanctioning  General  Butler's  scheme  of  raising  six 
regiments  in  New  England,  the  president  procured  by  telegraph 
the  consent  of  all  the  governors. 

Now,  the  point  of  collision  between  Governor  Andrew  and  Gen- 
eral Butler  was  this :  The  governor  desired  to  fill  the  regiments 
already  begun  before  any  others  were  started ;  the  general  was 
anxious  to  open  his  vein  of  hunkers  at  once,  and  avail  himself  im- 
mediately of  his  personal  popularity.  He  thought  he  could  enlist 
men  who  would  not  join  regiments  already  begun ;  and  he  was 
right ;  for  more  than  a  thousand  men  enlisted  under  his  banner  as 
soon  as  it  was  set  up. 

When  General  Butler  presented  himself  at  the  State  House, 
September  14th,  armed  with  authority  to  raise  six  regiments  in 
New  England,  Governor  Andrew  received  him  with  all  his  wonted 
cordiality,  and  promised  hearty  co-operation.  He  requested,  how- 
ever, that  he  would  announce  no  new  regiments  till  General  Sher- 
man's were  filled,  which  would  require  another  week.  The  general 
consented  and  went  to  Maine,  where  his  efforts,  promptly  seconded 
by  the  governor  of  that  State,  were  immediately  successful.  He 
returned  to  Boston,  to  find  that  Governor  Andrew  had  caused  a 
formal  order  to  be  published,  which  forbade  new  recruiting  until 
regiments  already  begun  were  completed.  Two  of  these  incom- 
plete regiments  he  had,  indeed,  assigned  to  General  Butler,  one  of 
which  existed  only  in  skeleton.  General  Butler  fearing  delay,  and 
desiring  himself  to  have  a  voice  in  selecting  the  officers  who  were 
to  accompany  him,  hit  upon  an  expedient  to  remove  the  unexpected 
obstacle.  He  flew  to  Washington,  and  to  General  Scott.  -Result, 
the  following  order : 

"  The  six  New  England  States  will  temporarily  constitute  a  sepa- 
rate military  department,  to  be  called  the  Department  of  New  Eng- 
land.    Head-quarters,  Boston.     Major-General  B.  F.  Butler,  United 


EECEUITCNG   FOE   SPECIAL   SEEVICE.  183 

States  Volunteer  Service,  while  engaged  in  recruiting  his  division 
will  command." 

Next  he  went  to  Mr.  Cameron,  who  signed  an  order  giving  half 
a  month's  pay  in  advance  to  all  troops  enlisted  by  General  Butler 
for  special  service. 

Surely,  thought  the  general,  all  is  right  now.  Returning  to  New 
England,  he  again  set  to  work,  published  his  new  powers,  adver- 
tised for  recruits,  opened  offices,  established  camps.  His  activity 
was  wonderful.  One.  day  we  see  him  addressing  a  legislature; 
the  next  conferring  with  a  governor ;  anon,  haranguing  the  troops, 
then,  consulting  with  officers  ;  now  in  Vermont,  to-morrow  in  Maine, 
the  next  day  in  New  Hampshire.  Men  nocked  in.  In  a  month  he 
would  have  been  ready  to  march  but  for  one  powerful  opposing  in- 
fluence, which  emanated  from  the  state  house  at  Boston.  Governor 
Andrew,  wedded  to  his  own  system,  puzzled  and  indignant  at  the 
contradictory  orders  from  Washington,  would  not  sanction  the 
proceedings  of  General  Butler,  but  opposed  them  by  all  the  means 
he  could  command.  Endless  perplexity  and  recrimination  followed; 
the  governor,  by  telegraph  and  by  letter,  remonstrating  with  the 
department  of  war ;  Mr.  Cameron  standing  in  torment  between  two 
fires,  vainly  endeavoring  to  quiet  the  governor  by  real  applause 
and  apparent  concession ;  the  Massachusetts  senators  mediating ; 
the  president  putting  in  a  conciliatory  word  now  and  then ;  Gen- 
eral Butler  keeping  steadily  to  his  object  of  getting  the  six  regi- 
ments ready  in  the  shortest  possible  time,  pausing  a  moment  to 
dictate  a  hurried  reply  to  voluminous  remonstrance,  then  rushing 
away  to  a  remote  camp,  always  under  a  full  head  of  steam. 

While  the  unhappy  difference  was  still  capable  of  adjustment, 
General  Butler  asked  an  interview  with  the  governor,  thinking  that 
a  few  minutes'  frank  conversation  could  hardly  fail  to  bring  them 
to  friendly  co-operation.  Unhappily,  Governor  Andrew,  being 
exceedingly  pressed  by  business,  declined  the  interview,  naming  no 
time  when  he  could  accord  one.  The  tongue  is  an  unruly  member ; 
but  the  pen,  too,  is  a  mischievous  implement ;  it  is  a  tongue  free 
from  the  restraints  imposed  by  the  presence  of  the  person  ad- 
dressed. One  of  General  Butler's  letters,  couched  in  most  respect- 
ful language,  gave  extreme  offense  to  the  governor,  through  an 
error  of  the  copyist.  It  was  written  in  the  third  person,  and  the 
governor  was  designated  by  the  words  "  His  Excellency,"  which 


184  RECRUITING   FOR    SPECIAL   SERVICE. 

occurred  fourteen  times.  The  person  who  made  the  copy  sent  to 
the  governor,  with  perverse  uniformity,  placed  inverted  commas 
before  and  after  those  words,  as  if  to  intimate  that  the  author  of 
the  letter  used  them  reluctantly,  and  only  in  obedience  to  a  custom. 
It  looked  like  an  intentional  and  elaborate  affront,  and  served  to 
embitter  the  controversy.  When,  at  length,  the  general  was  made 
acquainted  with  the  mishap,  he  was  not  in  a  humor  to  give  a  com- 
plete explanation ;  nor,  indeed,  is  it  a  custom  with  him  to  get  out 
of  a  scrape  by  casting  blame  upon  a  subordinate.* 

Time  did  not  heal  the  breach.  The  governor  refused  to  issue 
commissions  to  the  officers  recommended  by  General  Butler.  Many 
offensive  things  were  said  and  done  on  both  sides,  and  the  quarrel 
soon  escaped  from  the  state  house  into  the  newspapers  ;  from  news- 
papers into  pamphlets.  Let  us  draw  a  veil  over  these  painful 
scenes.  A  quarrel  is  divided  into  two  parts.  Part  first  embraces 
all  that  is  said  and  done  while  both  parties  keep  their  temper :  part 
second,  all  that  is  said  and  done  after  one  or  both  of  the  parties 
loses  it.  The  first  part  may  be  interesting,  and  even  important ; 
the  second  is  sound  and  fury,  signifying  nothing.  Governor  An- 
drew felt  that  General  Butler  was  interfering  with  his  prerogative. 
General  Butler,  intent  on  the  work  in  hand,  was  exasperated  at  the 
obstacles  thrown  in  his  way  by  Governor  Andrew.  General  But- 
ler, who  had  had  bitter  experience  of  subaltern  incompetency,  was 
anxious  to  secure  commissions  to  men  in  whom  he  could  confide. 
Governor  Andrew  naturally  desired  to  give  commissions  to  men 
in  whose  fitness  he  could  himself  believe.  General  Butler's  friends 
were  chiefly  of  the  hunker  persuasion ;  Governor  Andrew  was 
better  acquainted  with  gentlemen  of  his  own  party.  Both  were 
honest  and  zealous  servants  of  their  country.  Long  may  both  of 
them  live  to  serve  and  honor  it. 

The  six  thousand  troops  were  raised.  But  the  delay  in  Massa- 
chusetts deprived  General  Butler  of  the  execution  of  his  peninsula 
scheme,  which  fell  to  the  lot  of  General  Dix,  who  well  performed  it 
in  November.  So  General  Butler  went  to  Washington  to  learn 
what  he  was  to  do  with  his  troops,  now  that  he  had  them. 

For  many  months  the  government  had  been  silently  preparing  for 
the  recovery  of  the  southern  strongholds,  which  had  been  seized  at 

*  This  explanation  of  the  much-discussed  quotation  points,  I  derived  from  a  confidential  mem- 
ber of  General  Butlers  staiF,  the  Lite  General  Strong. 


RECRUITING    FOR    SPECIAL   SERVICE.  135 

the  outbreak  of  the  war,  while  the  last  administration  was  holding 
parley  with  treason  at  the  capital.  Commodore  Porter  was  busy 
at  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  with  his  fleet  of  bomb-boats.  The 
navy  had  been  otherwise  strengthened,  though  the  day  of  iron-clads 
had  not  yet  dawned  in  Hampton  Roads.  Immense  provision  had 
been  ordered  of  the  cumbrous  material  used  in  sieges.  But,  as  yet, 
preparations  only  had  been  made ;  the  points  first  to  be  attempted 
had  not  been  selected ;  the  chief  attention  of  the  government  being 
still  directed  to  the  increase  and  organization  of  the  army  of  the 
Potomac,  held  at  bay  by  the  phantom  of  two  hundred  thousand 
rebels,  and  endless  imaginary  masked  batteries  at  Manassas.  The 
arrival  of  General  Butler  at  Washington  recalled  the  consideration 
of  the  government  to  more  distant  enterprises. 

Mobile  was  then  the  favorite  object,  both  at  the  head-quarters  of 
the  army  and  at  the  navy  department ;  and  General  Butler  was 
directed  to  report  upon  the  best  rendezvous  for  an  expedition 
against  Mobile.  Maps,  charts,  gazetteers,  encyclopedias,  and  sea 
captains  were  zealously  overhauled.  In  a  day  or  two,  the  general 
was  ready  with  his  report,  which  named  Ship  Island  as  the  proper 
rendezvous  for  operations  against  any  point  upon  the  gulf  coast. 
Ship  Island  it  should  be  then.  To  New  England  the  general 
quickly  returned,  and  started  a  regiment  or  two  for  the  rendezvous 
under  General  Phelps,  whose  services  he  had  especially  asked.  Then 
to  Washington  once  more,  where  he  found  that  Mobile  was  not  in 
high  favor  with  the  ruling  member  of  the  cabinet,  who  thought 
Texas  a  more  immediately  important  object.  It  was  natural  that 
he  should  so  regard  it,  as  he  was  compelled  by  his  office  to  look  at 
the  war  in  the  light  shed  from  foreign  correspondence.  General 
Butler  was  now  ordered  to  prepare  a  paper  upon  Texas,  and  the 
best  mode  of  reannexing  it.  Nothing  loath,  he  rushed  again  at 
the  maps  and  gazetteers,  collaring  stray  Galvestonians  by  the  way. 
An  elaborate  paper  upon  Texas  was  the  prompt  result  of  his  labors, 
a  production  justly  complimented  by  General  McClellan  for  its  lucid 
completeness.  Texas  was  in  the  ascendant.  Texas  should  be  re. 
annexed  ;  the  French  kept  out ;  the  German  cotton  planters  deliv- 
ered; the  rebels  quelled;  the  blockading  squadron  released.  Home- 
ward sped  the  general  to  get  more  of  his  troops  on  the  way.  The 
Constitution,  which  had  conveyed  General  Phelps  to  Ship  Island 
and  returned,  was  again  loaded  with  troops.     Two  thousand  men 


1S6  RECRUITING   FOR   SPECIAL   SERVICE. 

were  embarked,  and  the  ship  was  on  the  point  of  sailing,  when  a 
telegram  from  Washington  arrived  of  singular  brevity : — 

"  Don't  Sail.     Disembark." 

No  explanation  followed  ;  nor  did  General  Butler  wait  long  for 
one.  The  next  day  he  was  in  Washington,  in  quest  of  elucidation. 
The  explanation  was  simple.  Mason  and  Slidell  were  in  Fort 
Warren ;  England  had  demanded  their  surrender  ;  war  with 
England  was  possible,  not  improbable.  If  war  were  the  issue,  the 
Constitution  would  be  required,  not  to  convey  troops  to  Ship  Island, 
but  to  bring  back  those  already  there. 

Nothing  remained  for  General  Butler  but  to  return  home,  and 
wait  till  the  question  was  decided.  He  went,  but  not  till  he  had 
avowed  his  entire  conviction  that  justice  and  policy  united  in  de- 
manding that  the  rebel  emissaries  should  be  retained.  He  thought 
that  New  England  alone,  drained  as  she  was  of  men,  would  follow 
him  to  Canada,  that  winter,  with  fifty  thousand  troops,  and  seize 
the  commanding  points  before  the  April  sun  had  let  in  the  English 
navy.  The  country,  he  thought,  was  not  half  awake — had  not  put 
forth  half  its  strength.  He  felt  that  in  such  a  quarrel,  America 
would  do  as  Greece  had  done  when  Xerxes  led  his  myriads  against 
her — every  man  a  soldier,  and  every  soldier  a  hero.  He  did  not 
despair  of  seeing,  first  the  border  states,  and  then  the  gulf  states, 
fired  with  the  old  animosity,  and  joining  against  the  hereditary  foe. 
Knowing  what  England  had  done  in  the  way  of  violating  the  flag 
of  neutrals,  he  regarded  her  conduct  in  this  affair  as  the  very  sub- 
lime of  impudence.  He  boiled  with  indignation  whenever  he 
thought  of  it,  and  he  thought  of  little  else  during  those  memorable 
weeks. 

Fortunately,  as  most  of  us  think,  other  counsels  prevailed  at 
Washington,  and  a  blow  was  struck  at  the  rebellion,  by  the  sur- 
render of  the  men,  of  more  effect  than  the  winning  of  a  great  bat- 
tle. The  restoration  of  the  Union  will  itself  avenge  the  wrong, 
and  cut  deeper  into  the  power  that  has  misled  England  than  the 
loss  of  many  Canadas. 

The  dispute  with  the  governor  continued.  It  was  a  question 
whether  the  troops  raised  by  him  in  Massachusetts,  in  opposition 
to  the  governor,  would  be  entitled  to  the  aid  granted  by  the  legis- 
lature to  the  families  of  volunteers.  The  following  letter  touches 
upon  this  subject : 


BECETJITING   FOE   SPECIAL   SEEVICE.  1     , 

u  Camp  Seward,  Pittsfield,  Tuesday,  Jan.  7,  1862. 
"Lieut.  Col.  Whelpen,  Commanding  Western  Bay  State  Regiment: 

"  Colonel  : — I  have  been  much  gratified  with  the  appearance,  discipline 
and  proficiency  of  your  regiment,  as  evidenced  by  the  inspection  of  to-day. 
Of  the  order,  quiet,  and  soldierly  conduct  of  the  camp,  the  commanding 
general  cannot  speak  in  too  much  praise. 

"Notwithstanding  the  difficulties  of  season,  opposition  and  misrepre- 
sentation, the  progress  made  would  be  creditable  if  no  such  obstacles  had 
existed. 

"  In  the  matter  of  the  so-called  state  aid  to  the  families  of  the  volunteers 
under  your  command,  I  wish  to  repeat  here,  most  distinctly,  the  declara- 
tion heretofore  made  to  you.  I  will  personally,  and  from  my  private 
means,  guarantee  to  the  family  of  each  soldier  the  aid  which  ought  to  be 
furnished  to  him  by  his  town,  to  the  same  extent  and  amount  that  the 
state  would  be  bound  to  afford  to  other  enlisted  men,  from  and  after  this 
date,  if  the  same  is  not  paid  by  the  commonwealth  to  them  as  to  other 
Massachusetts  soldiers  ;  and  all  soldiers  enlisting  in  your  regiment  may  do 
so  upon  the  strength  of  this  guarantee. 

"I  have  no  doubt  upon  this  subject  whatever.  The  commonwealth  will 
not  permit  her  soldiers  to  suffer  or  be  unjustly  dealt  with,  under  whose- 
soever banner  they  may  enlist. 

"  The  only  question  that  will  be  asked  will  be,  Are  these  men  in  the 
service  of  their  country,  shedding  their  blood  in  defense  of  its  constitution 
and  laws  ?  If  so,  they  stand  upon  an  equality  with  every  other  man  who 
is  fighting  for  his  country,  and  will  be  treated  by  the  state  with  the  same 
equal  justice,  whatever  may  be  the  wounded  pride  or  overweening  vanity 
of  any  man  or  set  of  men. 

"  I  love  and  revere  the  justice,  the  character,  the  equity,  the  fame  and 
name  of  our  glorious  old  commonwealth  too  much  to  doubt  of  this  for  a 
moment,  and  will  at  any  time  peril  whatever  I  may  have  of  private 
fortune,  upon  the  faith  engendered  by  that  love  and  reverence. 

"  Accept  for  yourself,  personally,  and  for  your  officers,  my  most  earnest 
thanks  for  the  energetic  services  which  you  have  rendered  in  the  recruit- 
ment of  your  excellent  regiment. 

"Most  truly  your  friend, 

"Benj.  F.  Butlek, 
"  Major-  General  Commanding." 

General  Butler  was,  indeed,  most  ably  seconded  by  the  officers 
whom  he  had  selected  to  accompany  him. 

Captain  Paul  R.  George,  of  Lowell,  a  retired  officer  of  the  army, 
distinguished  in  the  Mexican  war,  afterward  successful  in  business, 


188  RECRUITING   FOR    SPECIAL   SERVICE. 

was  Iris  quartermaster.  To  the  remarkable  talents  and  long  expe- 
rience of  Captain  George,  the  country  owed  it,  that  the  expedition 
was  fitted  out  with  unrivaled  completeness  and  economy,  affording 
another  proof  that  a  man  who  conducts  his  own  affairs  wisely,  can 
serve  the  public  with  the  same  energetic  tact.  Captain  George  for- 
sook ease  and  luxury  to  aid  General  Butler,  and  labored  for  many 
weeks  in  the  details  of  the  equipment  with  admirable  assiduity  and 
skill.  A  cabal  caused  his  rejection  by  the  senate  before  the  last  de- 
tachment sailed,  and  the  general  was  thus  deprived  of  assistance 
upon  which  he  had  relied,  and  which  he  needed  then  more  than 
ever. 

General  Butler  was  most  fortunate,  too,  in  his  chief  of  staff, 
Major  George  C.  StroDg,  a  graduate  of  West  Point ;  one  of  those 
cadets  who  had  marked  and  liked  the  ways  of  the  Massachusetts  law- 
yer, when  he  served  as  an  examiner  of  the  military  academy.  He 
met  the  general  in  Washington — being  a  lieutenant  then  upon  the 
staff  of  the  commander-in-chief,  and  gladly  left  all  to  follow  his  for- 
tunes. His  West  Point  comrades  marveled  that  an  officer  so 
clearly  in  the  way  of  promotion,  high  in  the  confidence  of  the  chief 
of  the  army,  should  choose  to  serve  under  a  general  not  trained  to 
arms  in  the  highlands  of  the  Hudson  river.  But  there  are  people 
who  know  a  man  when  they  see  one.  West  Point,  however,  is  right 
in  pluming  itself  upon  its  graduates,  for  no  one  can  deny  that  most 
of  the  good  soldiering  done  in  this  war,  on  either  side,  has  been 
done  under  West  Point  men.  How  well  General  Strong  appreci- 
ated the  merits  of  the  military  academy,  we  may  now  all  see  in 
his  pleasant  little  book,  "  Cadet  Life  at  West  Point,"  the  author- 
ship of  which  he  modestly  concealed  during  his  lifetime.  But  he 
was  not  a  West  Point  bigot. 

Happy,  too,  was  General  Butler  in  the  aid  of  Lieutenant  Weit- 
zel,  chief  engineer  to  the  expedition,  who  graduated  second  in  his 
class  at  West  Point ;  afterward  long  employed  in  completing  the 
forts  below  New  Orleans,  acquiring  perfect  familiarity  with  the 
adjacent  country.  He,  too,  reflected  honor  upon  the  military  acad- 
emy, as  he  has  recently  done  upon  the  country,  by  his  splendid  con- 
duct at  Port  Hudson.  General  Butler,  in  common  with  his  whole 
command,  held  the  character  and  talents  of  Lieutenant  Weitzel  in 
the  profoundest  esteem. 

One  of  the  volunteer  aids  stands  boldly  out  from  the  group  sur- 


RECRUITING   FOE    SPECIAL   SERVICE.  180 

rounding  the  general,  Major  J.  M.  Bell,  of  Boston,  a  distinguished 
member  of  the  bar  of  New  England,  son-in-law  and  partner  of  the 
late  Rufus  Choate.  Major  Bell,  who  had,  I  believe,  retired  from 
practice,  asked  his  old  hunker  chieftain,  if  there  was  any  work  for 
him  to  do  in  the  new,  mysterious  enterprise.  General  Butler  hailed 
the  olfer  with  gladness,  well  knowing  the  worth  and  capacity  of 
him  who  made  it.  Major  Bell  found  unexpected  work  in  the  south- 
ern country,  which  forced  him  to  furbish  his  legal  weapons,  and 
keep  them  exceedingly  bright. 

Colonel  Andrew  Jackson  Butler,  as  chief  commissary,  lent  a  pow- 
erful and  a  dexterous  hand  to  the  equipment  of  the  expedition,  till 
he,  too,  was  rejected  by  the  senate.  Captain  Peter  Haggerty, 
whom  we  saw  going  ashore  at  Annapolis,  was  still  by  the  general's 
side,  as  aide-de-camp.  Lieutenant  J.  B.  Kinsman,  another  Boston 
lawyer,  joined  at  the  last  moment,  for  a  six  weeks'  cruise,  but 
served  to  the  end.  We  shall  meet  those  gentlemen  again,  and  their 
comrades  on  the  general's  staff.  It  is  here  only  requisite  to  note, 
that  if  the  expedition  was  fitted  out  with  extraordinary  dispatch 
and  thoroughness,  it  was  because  General  Butler,  himself  a  mighty 
achiever,  knows  how  to  pick  out  from  the  mass  of  indifferent  men 
the  individuals  who  have  it  in  them  to  achieve.  This  is  the  supreme, 
the  ail-including  talent  of  a  commander.  A  little  of  that  talent,  the 
United  States,  three  years  ago,  might  have  paid  one  thousand  miL 
lions  of  dollars  for,  and  yet  saved  money  by  the  operation. 

Mason  and  Slidell  were  given  up.  The  troops  sailed  for  Fortress 
Monroe.  General  Butler,  early  in  January,  1862,  went  to  Wash- 
ington to  conclude  the  last  arrangements,  intending  to  join  his 
command  in  Hampton  Roads.  At  the  war  department  mere  con- 
fusion reigned,  for  this  was  the  time  when  Mr.  Cameron  was  going 
out,  and  Mr.  Stanton  coming  in.  Nothing  could  be  done ;  the 
troops  remained  at  Fortress  Monroe ;  the  general  was  lost  to  finite 
view  in  the  mazes  of  Washington. 

We  catch  a  brief  glimpse  of  him,  however,  testifying  before  the 
committee  on  the  conduct  of  the  war.  No  reader  can  have  for- 
gotten that  the  great  question  then  agitating  the  country  was,  why 
General  McClelian,  with  his  army  of  two  hundred  thousand  men, 
had  remained  inactive  for  so  many  months,  permitting  the  blockade 
of  the  Potomac,  and  allowing  the  superb  weather  of  November 
and  December  to  pass  unimproved  into  the  mud  and  cold  of  Janu- 


190  RECRUITING   FOR    SPECIAL   SERVICE. 

ary.  The  established  opinion  at  head-quarters  was,  that  the  rebol 
army  before  Washington  numbered  about  two  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  men.  Upon  this  point  General  Butler,  from  much  study 
of  the  various  sources  of  information,  had  arrived  at  an  opinion 
which  differed  from  the  one  in  vogue,  and  this  he  communicated 
to  the  committee ;  and  not  the  opinion  only,  but  the  grounds  of 
the  opinion.  He  presented  an  argument  on  the  subject,  having 
thoroughly  got  up  the  case  as  he  had  been  wont  to  do  for  gentle- 
men of  the  jury.  Subjecting  General  Beauregard's  report  of  the 
two  actions  near  Manassas  to  a  minute  analysis,  he  showed  that  the 
rebel  army  at  the  battle  of  Bull  Run  numbered  36,600  men.  He 
cross-examined  those  reports,  counting  first  by  regiments,  secondly 
by  brigades,  and  found  the  results  of  both  calculations  the  same. 
He  then  computed  the  quotas  of  the  various  rebel  states,  and  con- 
cluded that  the  entire  Confederate  force  on  the  day  of  the  battle 
of  Bull  Run  was  about  54,000.  He  next  considered  the  increase 
to  the  rebel  armies  since  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.  We,  with  our 
greatly  superior  means  of  transportation,  with  our  greater  popula- 
tion, and  the  command  of  the  ocean,  had  been  able,  by  the  most 
strenuous  exertions,  to  assemble  an  army  before  Washington  of 
little  more  than  200,000.  Could  the  rebels  have  got  together 
half  that  number  in  the  same  time  ?  It  was  not  probable,  it  was 
scarcely  possible.  Then  the  extent  of  country  held  by  the  rebel 
army  was  known,  and  forbade  the  supposition  entertained  at  head- 
quarters. Upon  the  whole,  he  concluded  that  the  armies  menacing 
Washington  consisted  of  about  70,000  men ;  which  proved  to  be 
within  5,000  of  the  truth. 

This  opinion  was  vigorously  pooh-poohed  in  the  higher  circles  of 
the  army,  but  leading  members  of  the  committee  were  evidently 
convinced  by  it.  One  officer  of  high  rank,  a  frequenter  of  the  office 
of  the  general-in-chief,  was  good  enough  to  say,  when  General  But- 
ler had  finally  departed,  that  he  hoped  they  had  now  found  a  hole 
big  enough  to  bury  that  Yankee  general  in. 

During  the  delay  caused  by  the  change  in  the  department  of 
war,  an  almost  incredible  incident  occurred,  which  strikingly  illus- 
trates the  confusion  sometimes  arising  from  having  three  centers  of 
military  authority — the  president,  the  secretary  of  war,  and  the 
commander-in-chief.  By  mere  accident  General  Butler  heard  one 
day  that  his  troops  had  been  sent,  two  weeks  before,  from  Fortress 


RECRUITING   FOR   SPECIAL   SERVICE.  191 

Monroe  to  Port  Royal.  "What!"  he  exclaimed,  "have  I  been 
played  with  all  this  time  ?"  He  discovered,  upon  inquiry,  that 
such  an  order  had  indeed  been  issued.  He  procured  an  interview 
with  Mr.  Stanton,  gave  him  a  history  of  his  proceedings,  and  asked 
an  explanation  of  the  order.  Mr.  Stanton  knew  nothing  about  it ; 
Mr.  Cameron  knew  nothing  about  it ;  General  McClellan  knew 
nothing  about  it.  Nevertheless,  the  order  in  question  had  really 
been  sent.  Mr.  Stanton  readily  agreed  to  countermand  the  order, 
provided  the  troops  had  not  already  departed.  The  general  hur- 
ried to  the  telegraph  office,  where,  under  a  rapid  fire  of  messages, 
a  still  more  wonderful  fact  was  disclosed.  The  mysterious  order 
had  been  received  in  Baltimore  by  one  of  General  Dix's  aids,  who 
had  put  it  into  his  pocket,  forgotten  it,  and  carried  it  about  with 
him  two  weeks/  From  the  depths  of  his  pocket  it  was  finally 
brought  to  light.     The  troops  were  still  at  the  fortress. 

Mr.  Stanton  soon  made  himself  felt  in  the  dispatch  of  business. 
General  Butler  obtained  an  ample  hearing,  and  the  threads  of  his 
enterprise  were  again  taken  up.  One  day  (about  January  10th), 
toward  the  close  of  a  long  conference  between  the  general  and 
the  secretary,  Mr.  Stanton  suddenly  asked : 

"  Why  can't  New  Orleans  be  taken  ?" 

The  question  thrilled  General  Butler  to  the  marrow. 

"  It  can  !"  he  replied. 

This  was  the  first  time  New  Orleans  had  been  mentioned  in  Gen- 
eral Butler's  hearing,  but  by  no  means  the  first  time  he  had  thought 
of  it.  The  secretary  told  him  to  prepare  a  programme ;  and  for 
the  third  time  the  general  dashed  at  the  charts  and  books.  General 
McClellan,  too,  was  requested  to  present  an  opinion  upon  the  feasi- 
bility of  the  enterprise.  He  reported  that  the  capture  of  New  Or- 
leans would  require  an  army  of  50,000  men,  and  no  such  number 
could  be  spared.  Even  Texas,  he  thought,  should  be  given  up  for 
the  present. 

But  now  General  Butler,  fired  with  the  splendor  and  daring  of 
the  new  project,  exerted  all  the  forces  of  his  nature  to  win  for  it  the 
consent  of  the  government.  He  talked  New  Orleans  to  every  mem- 
ber of  the  cabinet.  In  a  protracted  interview  with  the  president, 
lie  argued,  he  urged,  he  entreated,  he  convinced.  Nobly  were  his 
efforts  seconded  by  Mr.  Fox,  the  assistant  secretary  of  the  navy,  a 
native  of  Lowell,  a  schoolmate  of  General  Butler's.     His  whole 


192  RECRUITING    FOR   SPECIAL   SERVICE. 

heart  was  in  the  scheme.  The  president  spoke,  at  length,  the  deci- 
sive word,  and  the  general  almost  reeled  from  the  White  House  in 
the  intoxication  of  his  relief  and  joy.  One  difficulty  still  remained, 
and  that  was  the  tight  clutch  of  General  McClellan  upon  the  troops. 
At  Ship  Island  there  were  2,000  men;  on  ship-board  2,200  ;  ready 
in  New  England,  8,500;  total,  12,700.  General  Butler  demanded 
a  total  of  15,000.  As  the  general-in-chief  would  not  hear  of  sparing 
men  from  Washington,  three  of  the  Baltimore  regiments  were 
assigned  to  the  expedition ;  and  these  were  the  only  ones  in  Gene- 
ral Butler's  division  which  could  be  called  drilled.  Not  one  of 
his  regiments  had  been  in  action. 

About  January  23d,  the  last  impediment  was  removed,  and  Gen- 
eral Butler  went  home,  for  the  last  time,  to  superintend  the  em- 
barkation of  the  rest  of  the  New  England  troops.  The  troops 
detained  so  long  at  Fortress  Monroe,  were  hurried  on  board  the 
Constitution,  and  started  for  Ship  Island.  Other  transports  wTere 
rapidly  procured;  other  regiments  dispatched.  A  month  later, 
General  Butler  was  again  in  Washington  to  receive  the  final  orders ; 
the  huge  steamship  Mississippi,  loaded  with  his  last  troops,  lying 
in  Hampton  Roads,  waiting  only  for  his  coming  to  put  to  sea.  It 
may  interest  some  readers  to  know,  that  the  total  cost  of  raising 
the  troops  and  starting  them  on  their  voyage,  was  about  a  million 
and  a  half  of  dollars. 

It  was  not  without  apprehensions  that  General  Butler  approached 
the  capital  on  this  occasion — there  had  been  so  many  changes  of 
programme.  But  all  the  departments  smiled  propitiously,  and  the 
final  arrangements  were  soon  completed.  A  professional  spy,  who 
had  practiced  his  vocation  in  Virginia  too  long  for  him  to  venture 
again  within  the  enemy's  lines  with  much  chance  of  getting  out 
again,  was  on  his  way  to  New  Orleans,  having  agreed  to  meet  the 
general  at  Ship  Island  with  a  full  account  of  the  state  of  affairs  in 
the  crescent  city.  A  thousand  dollars,  if  he  succeeds.  The  depart- 
ment of  the  gulf  was  created,  and  General  Butler  formally  placed 
in  command  of  the  same.  The  following  were  the  orders  of  the 
commander-in-chief : 

"  Bead-quahtees  of  the  Aemt, 
"February  23d,  1862. 
"  Major-General  B.  F.  Butler,  United  States  Army : 
"General:— You  are  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  land  forces  des- 


RECRUITING   FOE    SPECIAL   SERVICE.  193 

tined  to  co-operate  with  the  navy  in  the  attack  upon  New  Orleans.  You 
will  use  every  means  to  keep  the  destination  a  profound  secret,  even  from 
your  staff  officers,  with  the  exception  of  your  chief  of  staff,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Wietzel,  of  the  engineers. 

uThe  force  at  your  disposal  will  consist  of  the  first  thirteen  regiments 
named  in  your  memorandum  handed  to  me  in  person,  the  Twenty-first  In- 
diana, Fourth  Wisconsin,  and  Sixth  Michigan  (old  and  good  regiments 
from  Baltimore) — these  three  regiments  will  await  your  orders  at  Fort 
Monroe.  Two  companies  of  the  Twenty-first  Indiana  are  well  drilled  at 
heavy  artillery.  The  cavalry  force  already  en  route  for  Ship  Island,  will  be 
sufficient  for  your  purposes.  After  full  consultation  with  officers  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  country  in  which  it  is  proposed  to  operate,  I  have  ar- 
rived at  the  conclusion  that  three  light  batteries  fully  equipped  and  one 
without  horses,  will  be  all  that  will  be  necessary. 

"  This  will  make  your  force  about  14,400  infantry,  275  cavalry,  580  ar- 
tillery, total  15,255  men. 

"  The  commanding  general  of  the  department  of  Key  West  is  authorized 
to  loan  you,  temporarily,  two  regiments ;  Fort  Pickens  can  probably  give 
you  another,  which  will  bring  your  force  to  nearly  18,000.  The  object  of 
your  expedition  is  one  of  vital  importance — the  capture  of  New  Orleans. 
The  route  selected  is  up  the  Mississippi  river,  and  the  first  obstacle  to  be 
encountered,  perhaps  the  only  one,  is  in  the  resistance  offered  by  Forts 
St.  Philip  and  Jackson.  It  is  expected  that  the  navy  can  reduce  the  works ; 
in  that  case,  you  will,  after  their  capture,  leave  a  sufficient  garrison  in  them 
to  render  them  perfectly  secure ;  and  it  is  recommended  that  on  the  up- 
ward passage  a  few  heavy  guns  and  some  troop3  be  left  at  the  pilot  sta- 
tion, at  the  forks  of  the  river,  to  cover  a  retreat  in  the  case  of  a  disaster, 
the  troops  and  guns  will  of  course  be  removed  as  soon  as  the  forts  are 
captured. 

u  Should  the  navy  fail  to  reduce  the  works,  you  will  land  your  forces  and 
siege  train,  and  endeavor  to  breach  the  works,  silence  their  fire,  and  carry 
them  by  assault. 

'"  The  next  resistance  will  be  near  the  English  Bend,  where  there  are 
some  earthen  batteries ;  here  it  may  be  necessary  for  you  to  land  your 
troops,  to  co-operate  with  the  naval  attack,  although  it  is  more  than  proba 
b)e  that  the  navy,  unassisted,  can  accomplish  the  result.  If  these  works  are 
taken,  the  city  of  New  Orleans  necessarily  falls. 

uIn  that  event  it  will  probably  be  best  to  occupy  Algiers  with  the  mass 
of  your  troops,  also  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river  above  the  city — it  may  be 
necessary  to  place  some  troops  in  the  city  to  preserve  order ;  though  if 
there  appears  sufficient  Union  sentiment  to  control  the  city,  it  may  be  best 
for  purposes  of  discipline  to  keep  your  men  out  of  the  city. 

"  After  obtaining  possession  of  New  Orleans,  it  will  be  necessary  to  re- 


194  EECRUITING   FOR   SPECIAL    SERVICE. 

duce  all  the  works  guarding  its  approaches  from  the  east,  and  particularly 
to  gain  the  ManchacPass. 

"  Baton  Rouge,  Berwick  Bay,  and  Fort  Livingston  will  next  claim  your 
attention. 

"A  feint  on  Galveston  may  facilitate  the  objects  we  have  in  view.  I 
need  not  call  your  attention  to  the  necessity  of  gaining  possession  of  all  the 
rolling  stock  you  can,  on  the  different  railways,  and  of  obtaining  control  of 
the  roads  themselves.  The  occupation  of  Baton  Rouge,  by  a  combined 
naval  and  land  force,  should  be  accomplished  as  soon  as  possible  after  you 
have  gained  New  Orleans;  then  endeavor  to  open  your  communication 
with  the  northern  column  of  the  Mississippi,  always  bearing  in  mind  the 
necessity  of  occupying  Jackson,  Mississippi,  as  soon  as  you  can  safely  do  so, 
either  after  or  before  you  have  effected  the  junction.  Allow  nothing  to 
divert  you  from  obtaining  full  possession  of  all  the  approaches  to  New  Or- 
leans. "When  that  object  is  accomplished  to  its  fullest  extent,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  make  a  combined  attack  on  Mobile,  in  order  to  gain  possession 
of  the  harbor  and  works,  as  well  as  to  control  the  railway  terminus  at  the 
city.  In  regard  to  this,  I  will  send  more  detailed  instructions,  as  the  opera- 
tions of  the  northern  column  develop  themselves.  I  may  simply  state  that 
the  general  objects  of  the  expedition  are  first,  the  reduction  of  New  Orleans 
and  all  its  approaches,  then  Mobile,  and  all  its  defenses,  then  Pensacola, 
Galveston,  etc.  It  is  probable  that  by  the  time  New  Orleans  is  reduced,  it 
will  be  in  the  power  of  the  government  to  re-enforce  the  land  forces  suffi- 
ciently to  accomplish  all  these  objects;  in  the  mean  time  you  will  please 
give  all  the  assistance  in  your  power  to  the  army  and  navy  commanders 
in  your  vicinity,  never  losing  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  great  object  to  be 
achieved  is  the  capture  and  firm  retention  of  New  Orleans. 
"  Yery  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  Geoege  B.  McOlellaf, 
**  Major- General  Commanding,  &c,  <£c." 

February  24th  was  General  Butler's  last  day  in  Washington. 

"Good-by,  Mr.  President.  We  shall  take  New  Orleans,  or 
you'll  never  see  me  again." 

Mr.  Stanton  :  "  The  man  that  takes  New  Orleans  is  made  a  lieu- 
tenant-general." 

February  25th,  at  nine  in  the  evening,  the  steamship  Mississippi 
sailed  from  Hampton  Roads,  with  General  Butler  and  his  staff,  and 
fourteen  hundred  troops  on  board.  Mrs.  Butler,  the  brave  and 
kind  companion  of  her  general  in  all  his  campaigns  hitherto,  was 
still  at  his  side  on  the  quarter-deck  of  the  Mississippi.  Except  him- 
self, Major  Strong,  and  Lieutenant  Wietzel,  no  man  in  the  ship, 


SHIP   ISLAND.  105 

and  no  man  on  the  island  to  which  they  were  bound,  knew  the 
object  of  the  expedition.  Articles  and  maps  had  appeared  in  the 
Herald,  calculated  to  lead  the  enemy  to  suppose  that  New  Orleans, 
if  attacked  at  all,  would  be  attacked  from  above,  not  from  the  gulf. 
The  northern  public  were  completely  in  the  dark ;  no  one  even 
guessed  New  Orleans. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


SHIP   ISLAND. 


Ship  Island  is  a  long  wave  of  whitest,  finest  sand,  that  glistens 
in  the  sun,  and  drifts  before  the  wind  like.  New  England  snow.  It 
is  one  of  four  islands  that  stretch  along  ten  or  twelve  miles  from 
the  gulf  coast,  forming  Mississippi  sound.  It  was  to  one  of  these 
sand  islands  that  the  British  troops  repaired  after  their  failure  be- 
fore New  Orleans  in  1815,  where  they  lived  for  several  weeks, 
amusing  themselves  with  fishing  and  play-acting.  Ship  Island, 
seven  miles  long  and  three  quarters  of  a  mile  wide,  containing  two 
square  miles  of  land — the  best  of  the  four  for  a  rendezvous — is 
sixty-five  miles  from  New  Orleans,  ninety-five  from  the  mouths  of 
the  Mississippi,  fifty  from  Mobile  bay,  ten  from  the  nearest  point  of 
the  state  of  Mississippi,  of  which  the  island  is  a  part.  It  lies  so 
low  among  the  white,  tumbling  waves,  that,  when  covered  with 
tents,  it  looked  like  a  camp  floating  upon  the  sea.  Land  and  water 
are  menacingly  blended  there.  Numberless  porpoises,  attracted  by 
the  refuse  of  the  camps,  floundered  all  around  the  shore,  which 
was  lined  with  a  living  fringe  of  sea-gulls,  flapping,  plunging,  div- 
ing, and  screaming.  The  waves  and  the  wind  seemed  to  heave 
and  toss  the  sand  as  easily  as  they  did  the  water.  In  great  storms 
the  island  changes  its  form ;  large  portions  are  severed,  others  sub- 
merged ;  new  bays  and  inlets  appear.  On  landing,  the  voyager 
does  not  so  much  feel  that  he  has  come  on  shore  as  that  he  has 
got  down  over  the  ship's  side  to  the  shifting  bottom  of  the  sea. 
9 


190  SHIP   ISLAND. 

raised  for  a  moment  by  the  mighty  swell  of  waters,  threatening 
again  to  sink  and  disappear.     Terra  fir  ma,  it  is  not. 

It  was  observed  that  the  first  aspect  of  this  island  struck  death 
to  the  hopes  of  arriving  troops.  They  faintly  strove  to  cheer  their 
spirits  with  jocular  allusions  to  the  garden  of  Eden  and  to  Coney 
Island ;  and  one  of  General  Phelps's  men,  on  lodking  over  the  ship's 
side  upon  the  desolate  scene  of  his  future  home,  raised  a  doleful 
laugh  by  exclaiming,  in  the  language  of  Watts : 

"  Lord,  what  a  wretched  land  is  this, 
Which  yields  us  no  supplies  1" 

Appearances,  however,  were  deceptive.  The  wretched  land  was 
found  to  yield  abundant  supplies  of  commodities  and  conveniences, 
most  essential  to  soldiers.  At  the  western  end  there  is  a  really 
superior  harbor,  safe  in  all  winds,  admitting  the  largest  vessels.  At 
the  eastern  extremity  groves  of  pine  and  stunted  oak  have  succeeded 
in  establishing  themselves,  and  afford  plenty  of  wood.  For  fresh 
water,  it  is  only  necessary  to  sink  a  barrel  three  feet ;  it  imme- 
diately fills  with  rain  water,  pure  from  the  natural  filter  of  the 
sand.  Oysters  of  excellent  quality  can  be  had  by  wading  for  them ; 
fish  abound ;  and  the  woods,  strange  to  relate,  furnished  the  means 
of  raccoon-hunting.  The  climate,  too,  in  the  winter  months,  is  more 
enjoyable  than  Newport  in  midsummer,  and  the  bathing  not  infe- 
rior. Nevertheless,  it  must  be  owned,  that  with  all  these  advanta- 
ges, Ship  Island  was  never  regarded  by  the  troops  with  high  favor ; 
they  never  recovered  from  the  first  shock  of  disappointment. 

Before  the  arrival  of  General  Phelps,  in  December,  1861,  the 
island  had  been  the  theater  of  many  events.  The  breaking  out  of 
the  rebellion  found  workmen,  in  the  service  of  the  United  States, 
building  a  fort  for  the  defense  of  the  harbor.  They  soon  abandoned 
the  place,  and  the  rebels  immediately  landed,  burned  the  houses, 
damaged  the  fort,  destroyed  the  lantern  of  the  light-house,  and  re- 
tired. Then  the  blockading  squadron  appeared,  captured  many 
prizes,  and  nearly  stopped  the  coasting  trade  between  Mobile  and 
New  Orleans.  But  the  coast  being  clear  for  a  few  days,  a  rebel 
force  again  landed,  and  proceeded  to  repair  the  damage  they  had 
done,  mounting  heavy  guns  upon  the  fort,  and  erecting  extensive 
works,  Commodore  McKean  unable  to  reach  them  with  the  guns 
of  the  Massachusetts.     In  September,  alarmed  by  rumors  of  a  com 


SHIP    ISLAND.  197 

ing  expedition,  the  rebels  again  abandoned  the  island;  but,  in 
so  doing,  were  so  much  accelerated  by  the  vigilant  McKean,  that, 
though  they  took  their  guns  with  them,  they  left  the  fort  standing, 
and  the  commodore  captured  a  vessel  laden  with  timber,  hewn 
and  cut  for  the  defensive  works.  From  September  to  December, 
Commodore  McKean,  with  a  hundred  and  seventy  sailors  and 
marines,  under  Lieutenant  McKean  Buchanan,  had  held  the  harbor, 
and  labored  to  remount  the  fort,  and  complete  the  works  begun  by 
the  enemy ;  darting  out  occasionally,  and  pouncing  upon  venture- 
some schooners  from  Mobile,  or  blockade-runners  from  Nassau. 
Five  or  six  prizes  were  there  when  General  Phelps  hove  in  sight, 
and  two  light-draft  steamers  among  them,  invaluable  for  landing 
troops. 

During  the  next  three  months  the  island  presented  a  busy 
scene.  The  huge  steamer  Constitution  landed  her  little  army  of 
troops,  sailed,  and  returned  with  more ;  General  Phelps  and  Com- 
modore McKean  striving,  meanwhile,  to  complete  the  defenses, 
and  to  prepare  in  all  ways  for  coming  events,  whatever  those 
events  might  be  ;  neither  of  them  knowing  the  designs  of  the  gov- 
ernment. General  Phelps,  a  strict  disciplinarian,  assiduously 
drilled  and  reviewed  the  troops.  He  signalized  his  brief  tenure  of 
command  by  issuing  his  well-remembered  proclamation,  which 
must  be  pronounced  the  most  unexpected  piece  of  composition 
which  the  war  has  elicited.  A  reporter  records,  that  during  the 
last  days  of  the  voyage  of  the  Constitution,  General  Phelps  was 
observed  to  spend  more  time  than  usual  in  the  solitude  of  his 
cabin.  "  He  did  not  come  so  promptly  as  the  rest  of  the  officers 
to  the  table,  and  when  he  did  appear,  seemed  more  occupied  with 
his  own  thoughts  than  with  the  current  of  conversation.  The 
cause  of  this  temporary  reticence  wa3  explained  on  the  day  follow- 
ing our  arrival  at  Ship  Island.  Observing  that  he  was  more  than 
usually  busy  about  some  interesting  matter,  your  correspondent,  in 
the  exercise  of  that  watchfulness  which  is  requisite  in  the  reporter, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  with  that  diffidence  not  always  characteristic 
of  the  profession,  seized  a  favorable  moment  for  putting  himself  en 
rapport  with  the  commander,  and  ascertained  that  he  was  about  to 
issue  a  very  important  paper,  defining  the  animus  of  the  expedition 
to  the  people  of  the  country.  General  Phelps  explained  that  he 
regarded  the  occasion  as  a  peculiarly  fitting  one  for  setting  forth, 


198  SHIP   ISLAND. 

in  a  frank  and  at  the  same  time  a  tolerant  spirit,  the  sentiments 
which  would  govern  his  conduct  in  prosecuting  the  war  against 
rebellion  in  the  southwest.  The  document  was  copied  in  a  plain 
hand,  and  on  the  evening  of  our  arrival  in  Ship  Island  Roads,  it 
was  read  aloud  in  the  presence  of  the  passengers  and  officers,  who 
were  convened  in  the  steamer's  saloon.  On  the  following  morning, 
other  copies  were  made,  one  of  which  was  read  to  the  officers  on 
board  the  United  States  steamer  Massachusetts,  in  the  hearing  of 
several  secession  prisoners  who  had  been  taken  on  board  of  the 
rebel  steamers  and  other  prizes  in  port."* 

The  document,  it  should  be  observed,  was  addressed  to  the 
loyal  people  of  the  southwest,  not  to  the  enemies  of  the  United 
States. 

PKOCLAMATION. 

"  Head-quaetees  Middlesex  Beigade,  Ship  Island, 
"Mississippi,  Bee.  4,  1861. 
"  To  the  loyal  citizens  of  the  Southwest : 

"  Without  any  desire  of  my  own,  but  contrary  to  my  private  inclinations, 
I  again  find  myself  among  you  as  a  military  officer  of  the  government.  A 
proper  respect  for  my  fellow-countrymen  renders  it  not  out  of  place  that  I 
should  make  known  to  you  the  motives  and  principles  by  which  my  com- 
mand will  be  governed. 

"We  believe  that  every  state  that  has  been  admitted  as  a  slave  state 
into  the  Union,  since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  has  been  so  admitted 
in  direct  violation  of  that  constitution. 

"  We  believe  that  the  slave  states  which  existed,  as  such,  at  the  adoption 
of  our  constitution,  are,  by  becoming  parties  to  that  compact,  under  the 
highest  obligations  of  honor  and  morality  to  abolish  slavery. 

"  It  is  our  conviction  that  monopolies  are  as  destructive,  as  competition 
is  conservative,  of  the  principles  and  vitalities  of  republican  government ; 
that  slave  labor  is  a  monopoly  which  excludes  free  labor  and  competition ; 
that  slaves  are  kept  in  comparative  idleness  and  ease  in  a  fertile  half  of  our 
arable  national  territory,  while  free  wmite  laborers,  constantly  augmenting 
in  numbers  from  Europe,  are  confined  to  the  other  half,  and  are  often  dis- 
tressed by  want ;  that  the  free  labor  of  the  North  has  more  need  of  expan- 
sion into  the  southern  states,  from  which  it  is  virtually  excluded,  than 
slavery  had  into  Texas  in  1846  ;  that  free  labor  is  essential  to  free  institu- 
tions ;  that  these  institutions  are  naturally  better  adapted  and  more  conge- 

*  Correspondence  of  the  K.  T.  Daily  Times,  December  17, 1861. 


SHIP   ISLAND.  199 

nial  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  than  are  the  despotic  tendencies  of  slavery ; 
and,  finally,  that  the  dominant  political  principle  of  this  North  American 
continent,  so  long  as  the  Caucasian  race  continues  to  flow  in  upon  us  from 
Europe,  must  needs  be  that  of  free  institutions  and  free  government.  Any 
obstructions  to  the  progress  of  that  form  of  government  in  the  United  States 
must  inevitably  be  attended  with  discord  and  war. 

"  Slavery,  from  the  condition  of  a  universally  recognized  social  and  moral 
evil,  has  become  at  length  a  political  institution,  demanding  political  recog- 
nition. It  demands  rights  to  the  exclusion  and  annihilation  of  those  rights 
which  are  insured  to  us  by  the  constitution ;  and  we  must  choose  between 
them  which  we  will  have,  for  we  can  not  have  both.  The  constitution  was 
made  for  freemen,  not  for  slaves.  Slavery,  as  a  social  evil,  might  for  a  time 
be  tolerated  and  endured ;  but  as  a  political  institution  it  becomes  imperi- 
ous and  exacting,  controlling,  like  a  dread  necessity,  all  whom  circumstan- 
ces have  compelled  to  live  under  its  sway,  hampering  their  action  and  thus 
impeding  our  national  progress.  As  a  political  institution  it  could  exist 
as  a  co-ordinate  part  only  of  two  forms  of  governments,  viz :  the  despotic 
and  the  free  ;  and  it  could  exist  under  a  free  government  only  where  public 
sentiment,  in  the  most  unrestricted  exercise  of  a  robust  freedom,  leading  to 
extravagance  and  licentiousness,  had  swayed  the  thoughts  and  habits  of  the 
people  beyond  the  bounds  and  limits  of  their  own  moderate  constitutional 
provisions.  It  could  exist  under  a  free  government  only  where  the  people 
in  a  period  of  unreasonin  g  extravagance  had  permitted  popular  clamor  to 
overcome  public  reason,  and  had  attempted  the  impossibility  of  setting  up 
permanently,  as  a  political  institution,  a  social  evil  which  is  opposed  to 
moral  law. 

"  By  reverting  to  the  history  of  the  past,  we  find  that  one  of  the  movjt 
destructive  wars  on  record,  that  of  the  French  Revolution,  was  originated 
by  the  attempt  to  give  political  character  to  an  institution  which  was  not 
susceptible  of  political  character.  The  church,  by  being  endowed  with 
political  power,  with  its  convents,  its  schools,  its  immense  landed  wealth, 
its  associations,  secret  and  open,  became  the  ruling  power  of  the  state,  and 
thus  occasioned  a  war  of  more  strife  and  bloodshed,  probably,  than  any 
other  war  which  has  desolated  the  earth. 

"  Slavery  is  still  less  susceptible  of  political  character  than  was  the  church. 
It  is  as  fit  at  this  moment  for  the  lumber-room  of  the  past,  as  was  in  1793 
the  monastery,  the  landed  wealth,  the  exclusive  privilege,  etc.,  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  France.  It  behooves  us  to  consider,  as  a  self-governing  people, 
bred,  and  reared  and  practiced  in  the  habits  of  self-government,  whether 
we  can  not,  whether  we  ought  not  to  revolutionize  slavery  out  of  existence, 
without  the  necessity  of  a  conflict  of  arms  like  that  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution. 

"  Indeed,  we  feel  assured,  that  the  moment  slavery  is  abolished,  from  that 


200  SHIP  ISLAND. 

moment  our  southern  "brethren,  every  ten  of  whom  have  probably  seven  rel- 
atives in  the  north,  would  begin  to  emerge  from  a  hateful  delirium.  From 
that  moment,  relieved  from  imaginary  terrors,  their  days  become  happy,  and 
their  nights  peaceable  and  free  from  alarm  :  the  aggregate  amount  of  labor, 
under  the  new  stimulus  of  fair  competition,  becomes  greater  day  by  day  ; 
property  rises  in  value,  invigorating  influences  succeed  to  stagnation,  degen- 
eracy and  decay ;  and  union,  harmony  and  peace,  to  which  we  have  so  long 
been  strangers,  become  restored,  and  bind  us  again  in  the  bonds  of  friend- 
ship and  amity,  as  when  we  first  began  our  national  career,  under  our  glo- 
rious government  of  1789. 

"  Why  do  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion  seek  to  change  the  form  of  your  an- 
cient government  ?  Is  it  because  the  growth  of  the  African  element  of  your 
population  has  come  at  length  to  render  the  change  necessary  ?  "Will  you 
permit  the  free  government  under  which  you  have  thus  far  lived,  and  which 
is  so  well  suited  for  the  development  of  true  manhood,  to  be  altered  to  a  nar- 
row and  belittling  despotism,  in  order  to  adapt  it  to  the  necessities  of  igno- 
rant slaves,  and  the  requirements  of  their  proud  and  aristocratic  owners? 
Will  the  laboring  men  of  the  south  bend  their  necks  to  the  same  yoke  that 
is  suited  to  the  slave  ?  We  think  not.  We  may  safely  answer  that  the  time 
has  not  yet  arrived  when  our  southern  brethren,  for  the  mere  sake  of  keep- 
ing Africans  in  slavery,  will  abandon  their  long  cherished  free  institutions, 
and  enslave  themselves. 

"  It  is  the  conviction  of  my  command,  as  a  part  of  the  national  forces  of 
the  United  States,  that  labor— manual  labor — is  inherently  noble  ;  that  it 
cannot  be  systematically  degraded  by  any  nation  without  ruining  its  peace 
happiness  and  power ;  that  free  labor  is  the  granite  basis  on  which  free  in- 
stitutions must  rest ;  that  it  is  the  right,  the  capital,  the  inheritance,  the 
hope  of  the  poor  man  everywhere ;  that  it  is  especially  the  right  of  five 
millions  of  our  fellow-countrymen  in  the  slave  states,  as  well  as  of  the  four 
millions  of  Africans  there,  and  all  our  efforts,  therefore,  however  small  or 
great,  whether  directed  against  the  interference  of  governments  from 
abroad,  or  against  rebellious  combinations  at  home,  shall  be  for  free  labor. 
Our  motto  and  our  standard  shall  be,  here  and  everywhere,  and  on  all  occa- 
sions, Free  Laboe  and  Workingmen's  Eights.  It  is  on  this  basis,  and 
this  basis  alone,  that  our  munificent  government,  the  asylum  of  the  nations, 
can  be  perpetuated  and  preserved. 

"J.  W.  Phelps, 
"Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers  Commanding. ," 

It  is  a  proof  of  the  very  great  respect  entertained  for  the  good 
general,  that  the  issue  of  such  a  proclamation,  in  the  name  oi 
the  troops,  provoked  little  more  than  a  feeling  of  astonishment. 
There  was,  it  is  true,  some  foolish  talk  of  resigning  commissions ; 


SHIP   ISLAND.  201 

and  one  naval  commander  relieved  his  mind  by  tearing  a  copy  in 
pieces  and  throwing  it  overboard. 

"What,"  asked  General  Phelps,  on  hearing  of  these  adverse 
opinions,  "  did  these  officers  come  down  here  for  ?  Was  it  to  sac- 
rifice their  ease,  to  waste  their  time,  and  perhaps  to  lay  down  their 
lives  in  a  war,  simply  that  a  few  persons  may  hold  slaves  ?  I  did 
not  come  for  any  such  purpose.  I  came  to  fight,  and  if  anybody 
is  afraid,  they  had  better  go  home.  These  people,  among  whom 
we  have  come,  do  not  ask  any  favors  of  us,  and  I  ask  none  of  them. 
I  did  not  come  here  to  steal,  but  to  tell  them  just  what  I  mean 
to  do." 

He  declared,  further,  that  his  principles  were  anti-slavery,  and  he 
desired  the  country  to  know  j.t.  He  did  not,  however,  wish  to  harm 
his  countrymen  of  the  South,  but  believing  as  he  did  that  slavery 
was  the  cause  of  the  war,  and  all  other  troubles  of  any  moment  that 
have  ever  arisen  among  the  American  people,  he  had  a  right  to  say 
so,  and  could  not  see  the  propriety  of  longer  apologizing  for  such 
a  baneful  institution.  "And  as  for  those  officers,"  continued  he, 
"  who  are  so  fearful  that  the  Union  army  may  do  some  harm  to  the 
rebels,  they  had  better  come  forward  and  let  us  know  which  side 
they  are  on." 

A  copy,  it  appears,  was  taken  to  the  Mississippi  shore,  and  hand- 
ed to  some  one  found  there.  It  was  extensively  used  in  Secessia  as 
fuel  for  firing  the  southern  heart.  In  due  time,  we  are  told,  it  was 
translated  for  the  warning  of  the  people  of  Cuba,  who  were  invited 
to  compute  what  would  be  the  value  of  their  slaves  if  the  United 
States,  known  to  be  covetous  of  Cuba,  should  succeed  in  restoring 
its  power  by  the  destruction  of  slavery  in  the  southern  states.  Gen- 
eral Butler,  in  common  with  the  whole  country,  read  the  proclama- 
tion of  his  brigadier  with  much  surprise,  but  was  far  from  joining 
in  the  hue  and  cry  against  it.  In  transmitting  General  Phelps's 
report  to  head-quarters,  he  merely  remarked :  "  I  need  hardly  say 
that  the  issuing  of  any  proclamation,  upon  such  occasion,  was 
neither  suggested  nor  authorized  by  me,  and  most  certainly  not 
such  an  one.  With  that  exception,  I  commend  the  report,  and  ask 
attention  to  its  clear  and  business-like  statements." 

General  Phelps,  with  his  quaint  and  kindly  ways,  and  his  effi- 
ciency as  a  commanding  officer,  soon  lived  down  the  clamor  excited 
by  his  proclamation.     The  rigor  of  his  rule  was  alleviated  by  his 


202  SHIP   ISLAND. 

humorous  mode  of  settling  difficulties  and  administering  reproof. 
Two  bottles  of  illicit  champagne-cider  were  brought  to  his  tent  one 
day,  and  the  question  occurred  what  was  to  be  done  with  the  pro- 
perty— value  three  dollars.  * 

"  Orderly,"  said  the  general,  "  strike  those  bottles  together,  and 
see  which  is  the  hardest ;  that  is  the  way  to  dispose  of  liquor  taken 
from  drunken  soldiers." 

On  another  occasion,  he  called  a  captain  from  the  line  of  his  regi 
ment,  and  addressed  him  thus : 

"Captain  ,  I  find  that  you  are   exceedingly  attentive  to 

everything" 

The  general  paused  here  for  a  moment,  and  the  captain  waited 
to  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  compliment.  But  the  general  com- 
pleted the  sentence  in  an  unexpected  manner ;  "  except  your  duty," 
said  he.  The  captain  retired  to  his  place  amid  the  titter  of  the 
regiment. 

December,  January,  and  February  passed  slowly  and  drearily  by. 
The  island  was  covered  with  troops ;  the  fleet  augmented  in  the 
harbor.  The  troops  being  inconveniently  crowded,  General  Phelps 
sent  over  a  party  to  the  main  land  to  see  if  there  was  room  and 
safety  there  for  a  portion  of  his  command.  A  sudden  shower  of 
canister  from  a  battery  near  the  wharf  of  Mississippi  City  was  in- 
terpreted to  mean  that,  though  there  might  be  room  enough,  there 
was  not  safety.  The  troops,  therefore,  were  obliged  to  remain 
cooped  and  huddled  together  on  the  small  part  of  the  island  that 
afforded  tolerable  camping  ground.  The  monotony  of  their  lives, 
in  these  forlorn  and  restricted  circumstances,  told  upon  the  spirits 
of  the  men.  The  resigning  fever  broke  out  among  the  officers,  and 
"  carried  off"  several  victims.  At  the  end  of  February,  when  the  last 
transports  arrived,  General  Phelps  learned  that  the  next  arrival 
would  be  that  of  General  Butler  himself,  who  might  be  daily  ex- 
pected, and  then  active  operations  would  begin.  But  the  days 
passed  on,  and  no  general  came.  Two  large  steamers  were  lying 
in  the  harbor,  at  a  daily  expense  to  the  government  of  three  thou- 
sand dollars.  Now,  General  Phelps  is  one  of  those  gentlemen  who 
take  the  true  view  of  the  public  money,  regarding  it  as  the  most 
sacred  of  all  money,  to  be  expended  with  the  thoughtful  economy 
with  which  an  honest  guardian  expends  the  slender  portion  of  a 
girl  bequeathed  to  his  care  by  a  dying  friend.     Still  unacquainted 


SHIP   ISLAND.  203 

with  the  plans  of  the  government,  hearing,  too,  that  General  But- 
ler had  been  lost  at  sea,  the  costly  presence  of  those  steamers  dis- 
tressed his  righteous  soul ;  and,  at  length,  he  ordered  them  home. 
So  there  were  ten  thousand  men,  on  a  strip  of  sand,  on  a  hostile 
coast,  with  no  great  supply  of  provisions,  destitute  of  any  adequate 
means  either  of  getting  away  or  of  getting  supplies.  A  deep  de- 
spondency settled  upon  the  troops  as  the  month  of  March  wore  on, 
and  they  vainly  scanned  the  horizon  for  a  smoky  harbinger  of  their 
expected  commander.  Fears  for  his  safety  received  melancholy 
confirmation,  when  a  vessel  arrived,  bringing  Brigadier-General 
Williams  from  Hatteras  Inlet,  for  whom  the  Mississippi  was  to 
have  called  on  her  way.  For  a  month,  General  Phelps  waited  for 
General  Butler  in  painful  suspense. 

The  rumors  of  disaster  to  the  Mississippi  were  far  from  ground- 
less. In  getting  to  Ship  Island,  General  Butler  had  almost  as  many 
adventures  as  Jason  in  search  of  the  golden  fleece.  To  him,  and  to 
his  staff,  who  had  already  encountered  so  many  obstacles  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  at  "Washington,  it  seemed  now  as  if  gods  and  men 
were  contending  against  their  expedition.  But  they  were  animated 
with  desperate  resolution,  feeling  that  only  some  signal  achieve- 
ment could  vindicate  their  enterprise,  and  enable  them  to  show 
themselves  again  in  Massachusetts  without  shame.  The  general 
had  assumed  so  much  of  the  responsibility  of  the  expedition,  had 
borne  it  along  on  his  own  shoulders  through  so  many  difficulties, 
against  so  much  opposition  or  lukewarm  support,  that  he  felt  there 
were  two  alternatives  for  him,  glorious  success  or  a  glorious  death. 
Nor  did  he  suppose  for  a  moment,  that  the  brunt  of  the  affair  would 
fall  upon  the  wooden  ships  of  the  navy.  He  expected  powerful  aid 
from  the  navy,  but  he  took  it  for  granted,  that  the  closing  and  de- 
cisive encounter  would  be  with  the  Confederate  army  on  the 
swamps  and  bayous  of  the  Delta,  defended  by  works  supposed  by 
the  enemy  to  be  impregnable.  Storming  parties,  scaling  ladders, 
siege  guns,  headlong  assaults  into  the  imminent,  deadly  breach — 
these  were  the  means  by  which  he  supposed  the  work  was  to  be 
finally  done,  and  this  was  evidently  the  impression  of  the  secretary 
of  war  when  he  spoke  of  the  reward  which  would  be  due  to  the 
man  who  should  take  New  Orleans.  ' 

February  25th,  at  nine  in  the  evening,  the  Mississippi  steamed 
from  Hampton  Roads,  and  bore  away  for  Hatteras  and  General 


204  SHIP   ISLAND. 

Williams.  The  weather  was  fine,  and  the  night  passed  pleasantly. 
The  morning  broke  beautifully  upon  a  tranquil  sea,  and  the  superb 
ship  bowled  along  before  a  fair  wind.  Landsmen  began  to  fear 
that  they  should  complete  the  voyage  without  having  experienced 
what  is  so  delightful  to  read  about  in  Byron — a  storm  at  sea.  But, 
in  the  afternoon — a  change,  and  such  a  change.  The  horizon  thick- 
ened and  drew  in ;  the  wind  rose ;  and  when,  at  six  o'clock,  they 
were  eight  miles  off  Hatteras  Inlet,  there  was  no  getting  in  that 
night.  The  ship  made  for  the  open  sea,  and  in  so  doing,  ran  within 
a  few  feet  of  perdition,  in  the  form  of  a  shoal,  over  which  the  waves 
broke  into  foam.  The  ship  escaped,  but  not  the  captain's  repu- 
tation. The  general's  faith  in  his  captain  was  not  entire  before 
this  ominous  occurrence,  but  from  that  moment  it  was  gone,  and 
he  left  the  deck  no  more  while  the  danger  lasted.  The  gale  in- 
creased as  the  night  came  on,  until  at  midnight  it  blew  half  a  hur- 
ricane. The  vessel  being  short-handed,  there  was  a  rummaging 
among  the  sleeping  and  sea-sick  troops  for  sailors;  numbers  of 
whom  responded  to»the  call,  who  rendered  good  service  during 
the  night — their  general  awake,  ubiquitous.  It  lulled  toward 
morning ;  and  by  noon,  the  wind  had  ceased.  The  ship  was  then 
so  far  from  Hatteras,  that  it  was  determined  to  give  up  General 
Williams,  and  make  straight  for  the  gulf.  "  All  felt  relieved,"  re- 
marks Major  Bell  in  his  itinerary,  "  and  such  as  had  desired  to 
see  a  storm  at  sea,  had  had  their  wildest  wish  fully  realized,  and 
were  satisfied." 

Again,  the  magnificent  ship  went  prosperously  on  her  way.  The 
sea-sick  struggled  on  deck  ;  the  disheartened  were  reassured ;  and 
those  who  had  lost  confidence  in  the  captain  had  had  their  faith  in 
the  general  renewed.  The  night  was  serene ;  the  morning  fine. 
At  seven,  the  ship  was  off  Cape  Fear,  going  at  great  speed,  wind 
and  steam  co-operating ;  land  in  sight ;  men  in  high  spirits  over 
their  coffee  and  biscuit.  At  half-past  eight,  when  the  general  and 
his  staff  were  at  breakfast  in  the  cabin,  they  heard  and  felt  that 
moso  terrible  of  all  sounds  known  to  seafaring  men,  the  harsh  gra- 
ting of  the  ship's  keel  upon  a  shoal.  Every  one  started  to  his  feet, 
and  hurried  to  the  deck.  The  sky  was  clear,  the  land  Avas  five 
miles  distant,  a  light-house  was  in  sight.  The  vessel  ground 
upon  the  rocks,  but  still  moved.  Her  course  was  altered  and  alter- 
ed again ;  all  points  of  the  compass  were  tried ;  but  still  she  touched. 


SHIP   ISLAND.  205 

Boats  were  lowered,  and  soundings  were  taken  in  all  directions, 
without  a  practicable  channel  being  discovered.  The  captain,  amaz- 
ed and  confounded,  gave  the  fatal  order  to  let  go  the  bow  anchor ; 
and  the  ship,  with  three  sails  set,  drove  upon  the  fluke,  which 
pierced  the  forward  compartment,  and  the  water  poured  in  in  a 
torrent  that  baffled  the  utmost  exertions  of  men  and  pumps.  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  dead  in  Christ  church  burial-ground  at  Philadel- 
phia, saved  the  ship  from  filling  ;  for  it  was  he  who  first  learned 
from  the  Chinese,  and  suggested  to  the  occidental  world,  the  expe- 
dient of  building  ships  with  water-tight  compartments.  In  an  hour 
from  the  first  shock,  the  good  steamer  Mississippi  was  hard  and 
fast  upon  Frying  Pan  Shoals,  one  compartment  filled  to  the  water 
line,  and  the  forward  berths  all  afloat.  There  was  no  help  in  the 
captain ;  he  was  in  such  a  maze  that  he  could  not  ascertain  from 
his  books  even  the  state  of  the  tide,  whether  it  was  rising  or  fall- 
ing, a  question  upon  which  the  safety  of  the  ship  depended. 

The  general,  in  effect,  took  command  of  the  ship.  Major  Bell  and 
Captain  R.  S.  Davis,  both  volunteer  aids,  were  ordered  to  look  into 
the  captain's  library  for  the  hour  of  the  next  high  tide.  They  re- 
ported falling  water ;  high  tide  at  8  p.  m.  Signals  of  distress  were 
hoisted,  guns  were  fired,  efforts  were  still  made  to  get  the  ship 
afloat.  Horsemen  were  descried  on  the  shore,  and  fears  were  en- 
tertained that  some  Confederate  vessel,  lurking  on  the  coast,  might 
come  out  and  make  an  easy  capture  of  a  defenseless  transport. 
Amid  the  manifold  perils  of  the  situation,  the  troops  behaved  with 
admirable  composure,  and  perfect  order  was  maintained  without 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  officers.  It  could  scarcely  have  been  other- 
wise, for  the  men  saw,  during  that  long  and  anxious  day,  Mrs. 
Butler,  with  her  attendant,  tranquilly  hemming  streamers  on  the 
quarter-deck,  she  not  suspecting  the  essential  aid  she  was  rendering 
the  officers  in  command.  The  men  confessed  the  next  day,  that 
nothing  cheered  them  so  much  while  they  were  in  peril,  as  the  sight 
of  Mrs.  Butler  sitting  there,  in  the  sight  of  them  all,  calmly  plying 
her  needle.  And  the  danger  was  indeed  most  imminent.  An  ordina- 
ry squall  would  have  broken  up  the  ship ;  it  would  have  taken  days 
to  land  the  men  in  the  ship's  boats ;  and  they  were  upon  a  hostile 
shore.  The  strain  was  severest  upon  the  nerves  of  those  who  wero 
most  familiar  with  a  coast  noted  for  the  suddenness  and  violence 
of  its  gales.     One  man's  hair  turned  white ;  one  went  mad. 


206  ship  isLAm>. 

Toward  noon,  a  steamer  hove  in  sight ;  reviving  hope  in  some, 
quickening  the  fears  of  others.  She  approached  cautiously,  as  if 
doubtful  of  the  character  of  the  grounded  ship.  The  Union  flag 
was  made  out  flying  from  her  mast-head,  but  still  she  hung  off  in 
the  distance  suspiciously.  General  Butler  sent  Major  Bell  on  board, 
who  discovered  that  she  was  the  gun-boat  Mount  Vernon,  Com- 
mander O.  S.  Glisson,  of  the  United  States  navy,  blockading  Wil- 
mington. Captain  Glisson,  who  had,  indeed,  doubted  the  character 
of  the  Mississippi,  came  on  board,  and  placed  his  vessel  at  the  ser- 
vice of  General  Butler.  The  sea  was  still  smooth,  but  tokens  of 
change  being  manifest,  it  was  deemed  best  to  transfer  Mrs.  Butler 
and  her  maid  to  the  Mount  Yernon.  A  hawser  was  attached  to 
the  Mississippi,  and  the  gun-boat  made  many  fruitless  attempts  to 
drag  her  from  the  shoals.  Three  hundred  men  were  put  on  board 
the  Mount  Yernon ;  shells  were  thrown  overboard ;  the  troops  ran 
in  masses  from  bow  to  stern,  and  from  stern  to  bow ;  the  engine 
worked  at  full  speed ;  but  still  she  would  not  budge.  As  the  tide 
rose,  the  wind  and  waves  rose  also ;  it  became  difficult  to  transfer 
the  troops ;  and,  soon,  the  huge  ship  began  to  roll  and  strike  the 
rocks  alarmingly.  The  sun  went  down,  and  twilight  was  deepen- 
ing into  darkness,  the  wind  still  increasing.  But  soon  after  seven, 
to  the  inexpressible  relief  of  all  on  board,  she  moved  forward  a 
few  feet,  and  then  surged  ahead  into  deeper  water,  and  was  afloat. 
The  Mount  Yernon  went  slowly  on  to  show  the  way,  the  Missis- 
sippi following ;  the  lead  continuing  for  a  whole  hour  to  show  but 
six  inches  of  water  under  her  keel.  The  vessel  hung  down  heavily 
by  the  head,  the  forward  compartment  being  filled,  and  no  one  had 
a  sense  of  safety  until,  at  midnight,  both  vessels  came  to  anchor  in 
the  Cape  Fear  river.  "  All  behaved  wonderfully  well,"  Major  Bell 
records.  "  The  resources  of  the  general  seemed  inexhaustible ;  his 
seeming  calmness  and  his  clear  judgment,  in  view  of  the  responsi- 
bility which  the  ignorance  of  the  captain  left  upon  him,  were  won- 
derful." 

The  next  morning,  after  a  survey  of  the  damaged  vessel,  it  was 
decided  to  go  on  to  Port  Royal  for  repairs,  trusting  to  the  settled 
appearance  of  the  weather  ;  the  Mount  Yernon  to  accompany.  Mrs. 
Butler  and  the  troops  returned  to  the  Mississippi,  except  one  gen- 
tleman, the  chaplain  of  a  regiment,  who  resigned  his  commission, 
and  stuck  to  the  vessel  that  had  a  competent  captain  and  no  hole  in 


SHIP   ISLAKD.  20  7 

her  bottom.  General  Butler  was  ingenious  in  expedients  to. check 
the  tendency  to  resign,  which  is  apt  to  manifest  itself  in  certain  cir- 
cumstances ;  but  he  placed  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  chaplain's 
escape.  The  vessels  put  to  sea  in  the  afternoon.  The  next  day 
was  Sunday,  and  prayers  were  said  on  the  deck  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  most  profound  solemnity  prevailed  in  the  dense  throng  of  sol- 
diers, who  literally  watched  and  prayed ;  prayed  to  Heaven  and 
watched  the  weather.  In  the  afternoon  they  were  cheered  with 
the  sight  of  the  great  fleet  blockading  Charleston,  one  of  the  ves- 
sels of  which  took  the  place  of  the  Mount  Vernon.  At  sunset,  on 
the  second  of  March,  the  Mississippi  and  her  new  consort,  the  Ma- 
tanzas,  anchored  off  Hilton  Head. 

As  no  adequate  transportation  for  the  troops  could  be  had  at 
Port  Royal,  nothing  remained  but  to  attempt  to  repair  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  this,  too,  in  the  absence  of  a  dry  dock  or  other  facilities 
for  handling  so  large  a  vessel.  The  ship  was  taken  to  Seabrook 
Landing,  on  Shell  Creek,  seven  miles  from  Hilton  Head,  and  the 
men  and  stores  were  removed.  The  naval  oflicers  on  the  station, 
Captain  Boggs,  Captain  Renshaw,  Captain  Boutelle,  and  others, 
conferred  with  the  general,  and  lent  all  possible  aid  to  the  work  in 
hand.  Plan  after  plan  was  proposed,  discussed,  rejected.  Men 
and  pumps  strove  in  vain  to  clear  the  compartment  of  water.  Twice 
the  leak  was  plugged  from  the  inside,  and  twice  the  water  burst 
through  again,  and  destroyed  in  an  hour  the  work  of  two  days  and 
nights.  It  can  be  truly  averred,  that  General  Butler's  indomitable 
resolution  and  inexhaustible  ingenuity  were  the  cause  of  the  final 
success ;  for  long  after  every  one  else  had  despaired,  he  persisted, 
and  still  suggested  new  expedients.  A  sail  was  at  length,  with  in- 
conceivable difficulty,  and  after  many  disheartening  failures,  drawn 
over  the  leak  ;  the  pumps  gained  upon  the  water,  and  as  the  head 
of  the  vessel  rose,  the  work  became  more  feasible.  When  the 
water  had  fallen  below  the  leak,  a  few  hours  of  vigorous  exertion 
sufficed  to  stop  it,  and  the  naval  gentlemen  pronounced  the  vessel 
fit  for  sea. 

The  troops  were  re-embarked,  and  the  luckless  Mississippi  started 
for  the  mouth  of  the  harbor.  The  captain,  disregarding  the  advice 
of  the  naval  officers,  who  were  familiar  with  the  soundings,  ran  her 
aground  upon  a  bed  of  shells,  and  there  she  stuck  as  fast  as  upon 
Frying  Pan  Shoals.     "  It  now  became  painfully  evident,"  remarks 


208  SHIP   ISLAND. 

Major  Bell,  "  that  if  we  ever  hoped  to  get  the  Mississippi  to  Ship 
Island  by  water,  we  must  have  a  new  captain."  General  Butler 
yielded  to  the  universal  desire,  and  to  his  own  sense  of  the  neces- 
sity of  the  case ;  he  ordered  a  board  of  inquiry,  which  report- 
ing the  captain  incompetent,  he  deposed  him  and  placed  him 
under  arrest  in  his  state-room.  "I  am  grieved,"  he  wrote  to 
the  captain,  "  to  be  obliged  to  this  action,  for  our  personal  re- 
lations have  been  of  the  kindest  character,  and  I  know  yourself 
will  believe  that  only  the  sternest  sense  of  duty  would  compel  me 
to  it." 

Acting-master  Sturgis,  of  the  Mount  Yernon,  took  the  vacant 
place.  Under  his  skillful  direction,  the  ship  was  once  more  floated, 
but  not  till  the  men  had  been  again  landed,  and  all  the  tugs  in  port 
had  done  their  utmost.  March  13th,  under  a  salute  of  fifteen  guns 
from  the  flag-ship,  the  Mississippi  put  to  sea,  still  accompanied  by 
the  Matanzas  with  part  of  the  troops  on  board. 

No  more  disasters.  Seven  days  of  prosperous  sailing  brought 
them  in  sight  of  Ship  Island,  a  long  camp  floating  flat  upon  the 
gulf.  Dismal  scene !  A  gale  was  blowing  as  the  ship  steamed 
into  the  harbor,  and  huge  waves  were  seen  rolling  up,  apparently 
among  the  tents,  and  no  man  could  tell  which  was  water  and  which 
was  land.  For  two  days  and  more,  the  gale  continued,  and  the 
men,  unable  to  land,  looked  out  upon  the  island  dolefully.  It  seem- 
ed a  sorry  port  to  come  to  after  such  a  voyage.  A  gloom  that 
some  men  who  were  not  easily  dismayed  could  scarcely  endure, 
much  less  conceal,  fell  upon  every  heart.  I  have  heard  General 
Butler  say,  that  when  he  saw  what  Ship  Island  was,  and  learned 
that  General  Phelps  had  sent  away  the  transports,  and  thought 
of  the  many  chances  there  were  of  the  failure  of  supplies,  and 
how  absolutely  dependent  they  all  were  upon  external  and  dis- 
tant resources,  his  heart,  for  the  first  time  during  the  war,  died 
within  him,  and  it  required  all  the  resolution  and  fortitude  he  could 
command  to  maintain  a  decent  show  of  cheerfulness.  He  was 
somewhat  debilitated  too,  at  this  time,  by  a  return  of  the  disease 
contracted  some  years  before,  at  the  National  Hotel  in  Washing- 
ton. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  March,  just  thirty  days  from  Hampton 
Roads,  the  troops  were  landed.  There  being  no  house  on  the  island, 
a  shanty  of  charred  boards,  eighteen  feet  square,  was  elected  for  the 


SHIP    ISLAND.  209 

residence  of  Mrs.  Butler,  furniture  for  which  was  opportunely  pro- 
cured from  a  captured  vessel.  A  vast  old-fashioned  French  bed- 
stead half  filled  the  little  cabin. 

A  closer  acquaintance  with  the  island  did  not  raise  the  spirits 
of  the  troops.  The  heat  was  intense.  Innumerable  were  the  flies. 
The  general  discomfit  was  extreme ;  and  to  add  to  the  gloom,  phan- 
toms were  not  wanting.  As  the  belief  gained  ground  that  New 
Orleans  was  the  object  of  the  expedition,  rumors  of  the  immense 
preparations  of  the  enemy  to  defend  the  city  obtained  currency ;  the 
river  was  lined  with  batteries  for  a  hundred  miles ;  "  rams"  of  fear- 
ful magnitude  and  power  had  been  constructed ;  an  army  of  fifty 
thousand  men  were  in  the  field.  And  soon  after  General  Butler's 
arrival,  the  news  reached  the  island,  with  enormous  exaggerations, 
of  the  foray  of  the  Merrimac  among  the  fleet  in  Hampton  Roads. 
Were  the  iron-clads  of  New  Orleans  likely  to  be  less  formidable  ? 
Had  we  any  Monitors  to  meet  them  ?  If  the  Wellington  heroes 
under  Pakenham  could  not  take  the  city  when  it  was  defended  by 
only  four  thousand  militia,  badly  armed,  what  was  the  prospect 
now,  when  all  the  appliances  of  modern  science  had  been  employed, 
and  the  place  was  defended  by  forts,  columbiads,  cables,  a  whole 
fleet  of  Merrimacs,  and  a  large  army  ?* 

*  New  Orleans  newspapers  were  brought  over  from  Biloxi  in  considerable  numbers.  Such 
paragraphs  as  the  following  were  found  in  them  :  "The  Mississippi  is  fortified  so  as  to  be  impas- 
sable for  any  hostile  fleet  or  flotilla.  Forts  Jackaon  and  St.  Philip  are  armed  with  one  hundred 
aDd  seventy  heavy  guns  (sixty -three  pounders,  rifled  by  Barkley  Britton,  and  received  from  Eng- 
land). The  navigation  of  the  river  is  stopped  by  a  dam  of  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the 
above  forts.  No  flotilla  on  earth  would  force  that  dam  in  less  than  two  hours,  during  which  it 
would  be  within  short  and  cross  range  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  guns  of  the  heaviest  caliber, 
many  of  which  would  be  served  with  red-hot  shot,  numerous  furnaces  for  which  have  been  erected 
in  every  fort  and  battery. 

"  In  a  day  or  two  we  shall  have  ready  two  iron-cased  floating  batteries.  The  plates  are  four  and 
a  half  inches  thick,  of  the  best  hammered  iron,  received  from  England  and  France.  Each  iron- 
cased  battery  will  mount  twenty  sixty-eight  pounders,  placed  so  as  to  skim  the  water,  and  striking 
the  enemy's  hull  between  wind  and  water.  We  have  an  abundant  supply  of  incendiary  shells, 
cupola  furnaces  for  molten  iron,  congreve  rockets  and  fire-ships. 

"  Between  New  Orleans  and  the  forts  there  is  a  constant  succession  of  earthworks.  At  the  Plain 
of  Chalmette,  near  Janin's  property,  there  are  redoubts,  armed  with  rifled  cannon,  which  have 
been  found  to  be  effective  at  five  miles  range.  A  ditch  thirty  feet- wide  and  twenty  deep  extends 
from  the  Mississippi  to  La  Cipriore. 

"In  Forts  St.  Philip  and  Jackson,  there  are  three  thousand  men,  of  whom  a  goodly  portion  are 
experienced  artillery-men,  and  gunners  who  have  served  in  the  navy. 

"At New  Orleans  itself  we  have  thirty-two  thousand  infantry,  and  as  many  more  quartered  in 
ihp.  immediate  neighborhood.  In  discipline  and  drill  they  are  far  superior  to  the  Yankees.  We 
have  two  very  able  and  active  generals,  who  possess  our  entire  confidence,  General  Mansfield 
LovelL  and  Brigadier-General  Buggies.  For  commodore,  we  have  old  Hollins,  a  Nelson  in  his 
way."—  New  Orleans  Picayune,  April  5th,  1S62. 


210  SHIP   ISLAND. 

It  happened,  however,  that  the  men  in  command  of  the  joint 
expedition  were  peculiarly  insensible  to  phantoms.  General  Butiev 
was  at  once  immersed  in  the  details  of  preparation,  and  rose  su- 
perior to  the  prevailing  depression.  Captain  Farragut — the  im- 
mortal Farrngut — who  had  arrived  within  a  few  days,  and  taken 
command  of  the  fleet,  had  all  an  old  sailor's  contempt  for  every- 
thing that  bore  the  name  of  ram.  From  the  first,  he  regarded  the 
naval  part  of  the  enemy's  preparations  as  unworthy  of  serious  con- 
sideration. Give  Mm  wooden  ships.  He  would  answer  for  the 
rams  and  iron-clads — floating  caldrons  to  boil  sailors  in.  He  was 
for  fighting  on  deck,  not  in  the  bottom  of  a  tea-kettle.  Wooden 
ships  were  good  enough  for  Nelson,  Perry,  Lawrence,  Decatur ; 
and  they  were  good  enough  for  him.  The  rebels  were  heartily 
welcome  to  their  rams  and  floating  batteries,  their  railroad-ironed 
steamboats,  and  their  fire-rafts  of  pine  knots. 

A  few  hours  after  General  Butler  had  landed  his  troops,  he  was 
in  consultation  with  Captain  Farragut — Captain  Bailey  of  the  navy 
being  also  present,  as  well  as  Major  Strong  and  Lieutenant  Wietzel. 
The  plan  of  operations  then  adopted  was  the  one  which  was  sub- 
stantially carried  out,  and  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  the 
city. 

I.  Captain  Porter,  with  his  fleet  of  twenty-one  bomb-schooners, 
should  anchor  below  the  two  forts,  Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  and 
continue  to  fire  upon  them  until  they  were  reduced,  or  until  his 
ammunition  was  nearly  exhausted.  During  the  bombardment, 
Captain  Farragut's  fleet  should  remain  out  of  fire,  as  a  reserve, 
just  below  the  bomb-vessels.  The  army,  or  so  much  of  it  as  trans- 
portation could  be  found  for,  should  remain  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  awaiting  the  issue  of  the  bombardment.  If  Captain  Porter 
succeeded  in  reducing  the  forts,  the  army  would  ascend  the  river 
and  garrison  them.  It  would  then  be  apparent,  probably,  what  the 
next  movement  should  be. 

II.  If  the  bombardment  did  not  reduce  or  silence  the  forts,  then 
Captain  Farragut,  with  his  fleet  of  steamers,  would  attempt  to  run 
by  them.  If  he  succeeded,  he  proposed  to  clear  the  river  of  the 
enemy's  fleet,  cut  off  the  forts  from  supplies,  and  push  on  at  least 
far  enough  to  reconnoiter  the  next  obstruction. 

III.  Captain  Farragut  having  passed  the  forts,  General  Butler 
would  at  once  take  the  troops  round  to  the  rear  of  Fort  St.  Philip, 


SHIP   ISLAND.  21 1 

land  them  in  the  swamps  there,  and  attempt  to  carry  the  fort  by- 
assault.  The  enemy  had  made  no  preparations  to  resist  an  attack 
from  that  quarter,  supposing  the  swamps  impassable.  But  Lieuten- 
ant Wietzel,  while  completing  the  fort,  had  been  for  two  years  in 
the  habit  of  duck-shooting  all  over  those  swamps,  and  knew  every 
bay  and  bayou  of  them.  He  assured  General  Butler  that  the  land- 
ing of  troops  there  would  be  difficult,  but  not  impossible;  and 
hence  this  part  of  the  scheme.  Both  in  the  formation  of  the  plan 
and  in  its  execution  the  local  knowledge  and  pre-eminent  profes- 
sional skill  of  Lieutenant  Wietzel  were  of  the  utmost  value.  Few 
men  contributed  more  to  the  reduction  of  the  city  than  he.  There 
are  few  more  valuable  officers  in  the  service  than  Greneral  Wietzel, 
as  the  country  well  knows. 

IV.  The  forts  being  reduced,  the  land  and  naval  force  would 
advance  toward  the  city  in  the  manner  that  should  then  seem 
best. 

This  was  the  plan.  The  next  question  was :  When  could  they 
be  ready  to  begin  ?  Captain  Farragut  said  he  would  sail  at  once 
for  the  mouths  of  the  river,  and  thought  he  could  be  ready  to 
move  thence  toward  the  forts  in  seven  days.  General  Butler  en- 
gaged to  have  six  thousand  men  embarked  and  prepared  in  seven 
days.  He  would  fill  all  the  steamers  he  had,  and  take  the  re- 
mainder of  the  force  in  tow  in  sailing  vessels.  These  arrange- 
ments concluded,  Captain  Farragut  and  the  fleet  departed,  and 
General  Butler  set  to  work  to  do  a  month's  work  in  seven  days 
and  nights. 

He  did  it.  He  labored  night  and  day.  Having  no  quartermas- 
ter, no  priceless  Captain  George,  who  was  consigned  to  Lowell 
because  a  senator  wanted  his  place  for  a  relative,  General  Butler 
was  seen  on  the  wharf,  blending  the  quartermaster  with  the  major- 
general,  not  disdaining  the  duty  of  the  stevedore,  when  the  ste- 
vedore's duty  became  the  vital  one.  A  hundred  Massachusetts 
carpenters  were  detailed  to  make  scaling  ladders  ;  a  hundred  boat- 
men to  help  to  man  the  thirty  boats  which  were  to  nose  their  de- 
vious way  through  the  reeds,  creeks,  pools  and  sharks  in  the  rear 
of  Fort  St.  Philip.  The  troops  were  formed  into  three  brigades ; 
the  first  under  General  Phelps,  the  second  under  General  Williams, 
the  third  under  Colonel  Shepley,  of  the  Twelfth  Maine.    The  staff 


212  SHIP   ISLAND. 

was  announced.*  A  court-martial  was  organized,  to  bring  up  ar- 
rears of  discipline,  and  a  board  to  examine  the  new  officers.  A 
blast  issued  from  head-quarters  against  intoxicating  drinks,  "the 
curse  of  the  army."  "  Forbidden,"  added  the  general,  "  by  every 
regulation,  prohibited  by  official  authority,  condemned  by  expe- 
rience, it  still  clings  to  the  soldier,  although  more  deadly,  in  this 
climate,  than  the  rifle.  All  sales,  therefore,  within  this  department, 
will  be  punished  by  instant  expulsion  of  the  party  offending,  if  a 
civilian,  or  by  court-martial,  if  an  officer  or  soldier.  All  intoxicat- 
ing liquors  kept  for  sale  or  to  be  used  as  a  beverage,  will  be  seized 
and  destroyed,  or  confiscated  to  hospital  uses." 

On  the  sixth  day,  seven  regiments  and  two  batteries  of  artillery 
were  embarked,  ready  to  sail  as  soon  as  the  word  should  come  from 
Captain  Farragut.  But  high  winds  and  low  tides  were  placing  un- 
expected obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  fleet,  the  larger  vessels  of  which 
were  many  days  in  getting  over  the  bar.  General  Butler  was 
obliged  to  disembark  his  troops,  and  await  the  tardy  lightering  of 
the  ships  into  the  river.  A  tedious  fortnight  passed  before  the 
fleet  was  ready,  the  general  vibrating  between  the  island  and  the 
mouths  of  the  river. 

A  romantic  incident  occurred  during  this  interval,  which  led  to 
a  variety  of  curious  adventures.  A  mischance  of  war  tossed  upon 
the  sand-beach  of  Ship  Island,  a  beautiful  little  girl,  three  years  of 

*  "  Head-quaeters,  Department  of  the  Gulf,  Ship  Island,  March  20, 1862. 
"General  Ordees,  No.  1. 

"Pursuant  to  General  Order  No.  20,  of  February  23, 1862,  from  the  head- quarters  of  the  army, 
Major-General  B.  F.  Butler,  U.  S.  Volunteers,  assumes  command  of  this  department. 

His  staff  is  announced  as  follows: 

Major  George  C.  Strong,  A.  A.  General,  Ordnance  Officer  and  Chief  of  Staff. 

Captain  Jonas  H.French,  A.  D.  C  and  Acting  Inspector-General. 

Captain  Peter  Haggerty,  Aide-de-Camp. 

First  Lieutenant  W.  H.  Wiegel,  A.  D.  C. 

First  Lieutenant  J.  W.  Cushing,  Thirty -first  Mass.  Volunteers,  Acting  Chief  Quartermaster. 

First  Lieutenant  J.  E.  Eastcrbrook,  Thirtieth  Mass.  Volunteers,  Acting  Chief  Commissary. 

Captain  George  A.  Kensel,  Chief  of  Artillery. 

First  Lieutenant  Godfrey  Wietzel,  Chief  Engineer. 

First  Lieutenant  J.  C.  Palfrey,  Assistant  Engineer. 

First  Lieutenant  C.  N.  Turnbull,  Chief  of  Topographical  Engineers. 

Surgeon  Thomas  H.  Bache,  Medical  Director. 

Major  J.  M.  Bell,  Volunteer  Aide-de-Camp. 

Captain  R.  S.  Davis,  Volunteer  Aide-de-Camp. 

First  Lieutenant  J.  B.  Kinsman,  " 

Second  Lieutenant  H.  C.  Clarke,  " 

"  By  command  of  Major-General  Butler. 

"George  C.  Strong,  A.  A.  G." 


SHIP    ISLAND.  213 

age,  the  child  of  a  New  Orleans  physician,  a  rebel  of  noted  bitter- 
ness. She  was  voyaging  in  Mississippi  Sound  with  her  parents 
and  nurse,  when  the  vessel  being  chased  by  a  gun-boat,  foundered, 
and  all  hands  took  to  the  boats.  The  little  creature  was  a  pet  with 
the  sailors ;  she  was  among  them  in  the  forecastle,  when  the  ves- 
sel went  down,  and  they  took  her  with  them  into  the  boat,  while 
the  parents  and  the  nurse  hurried  into  another  boat  with  the  cap- 
tain and  mate.  The  boats  were  soon  separated  in  the  gale,  and  the 
one  containing  the  child  was  picked  up  by  a  cruiser,  and  brought 
to  Ship  Island.  The  arrival  of  the  child  among  the  troops,  so  many 
of  whom  had  left  children  or  little  sisters  at,  home,  excited  a  degree 
of  interest  difficult  to  conceive.  She  was  taken  to  Mrs.  Butler's 
shanty,  her  clothes  all  wet  and  torn,  and  there  she  was  provided 
with  such  clothing  as  could  be  hastily  made,  and  otherwise  pro- 
vided for  with  the  tenderest  care.  But  Ship  Island,  in  such  cir- 
cumstances, was  no  fit  place  for  her.  She  could  tell  her  name,  and 
seemed  to  have  a  lively  sense  of  having  a  grandfather  in  New 
Orleans,  whose  name  she  also  knew.  The  general  determined 
to  send  her  as  far  on  her  way  to  this  grandfather  as  he  could. 
Whether  her  parents  had  survived  the  storm  no  one  knew. 

A  sloop  was  manned,  and  Major  Strong  was  directed  to  convey 
her,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  to  Biloxi,  the  nearest  point  of  the  oppo- 
site shore,  and  place  her  in  the  custody  of  a  magistrate,  with  money 
to  pay  her  expenses  to  New  Orleans.  Major  Strong  performed 
this  congenial  duty.  He  found  at  Biloxi  a  probate  of  wills,  who 
was  also  a  justice  of  the  peace,  to  whom  he  committed  the  child, 
and  gave  him  a  sum  of  money  in  gold,  sufficient  to  defray  the  cost 
of  her  transportation  to  the  city.  In  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  the 
tide  having  fallen,  the  sloop  started  to  return,  but  grounded  on  the 
bar,  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  shore.  Nothing  remained  but 
to  wait  six  hours  for  the  rising  of  the  tide.  Soon  after  dark,  a  boat 
came  off  with  four  men,  one  of  whom  Major  Strong  recognized  as 
a  person  who  had  conversed  with  him  in  a  friendly  manner  on 
shore.  This  gentleman  warned  him  that  he  would  be  attacked  by 
a  large  force  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  and  advised  him  to  sur- 
render. Scarcely  believing  that  men  could  be  found  base  enough 
to  assail  a  flag  of  truce  on  such  an  errand  as  his,  Major  Strong 
nevertheless  thought  it  best  to  send  a  boat  to  the  nearest  cruiser 
for  assistance.     He  had  seven  men  with  him.     Five  of  these  he  sent 


SHIP    ISLAND. 


away  in  the  boat,  under  Captain  Conant,  leaving  three  men  and 
eight  muskets  in  the  sloop.  Major  Strong  was  one  of  those  sol- 
diers who  knew  nothing  about  surrendering ;  it  formed  no  part  of 
his  calculations  :,  he  had  not  studied  the  subject,  and  did  not  admit 
it  as  a  branch  of  the  art  military.  He  barricaded  the  deck  of  the 
sloop,  put  his  eight  muskets  into  position,  and  extended  a  stout  log 
of  wood  over  the  side  to  play  the  part  of  a  howitzer.  His  two  men 
were  ordered  below,  having  been  first  instructed  in  their  role.  One 
of  the  men,  Macdonald  by  name,  had  brought  his  violin  with  him, 
and  kept  up  a  lively  performance  in  the  cabin,  of  national  airs 
and  dancing  tunes. 

About  nine  o'clock  two  large  boats,  filled  with  armed  men,  were 
seen  approaching  from  the  shore.     Voices  called  out : 

"  Surrender !    Surrender !" 

Major  Strong  replied:  "I  am  here  under  a  flag  of  truce,  per- 
forming  an  errand  of  mercy  to  one  of  your  citizens.  If  you  attempt 
to  violate  the  laws  of  this  sacred  mission,  I  will  blow  you  with  this 

howitzer,"  laying  his  hand  on  the  log,  "  so  deep  into  ,  that 

your  commander  will  find  it  difficult  to  produce  you  at  taps." 

"  We'll  see  about  that,"  returned  a  voice. 

The  boats  hauled  off  as  if  to  consider  the  matter.  They  soon  ap- 
proached again,  one  on  each  side. 

"  Keep  those  boats  on  the  same  side  of  the  sloop,"  shouted  the 
Major,  "  or  I'll  gink  both  of  you." 

The  order  was  obeyed.  The  boats  came  together,  and  lay  off  at 
hailing  distance. 

"  Don't  come  any  nearer,"  cried  Major  Strong.  "  If  you  have 
anything  to  say  to  me,  send  one  man." 

A  man  came  wading,  and  halted  a  few  yards  from  the  vessel. 

"  How  many  men  have  you  got  there  ?"  asked  Major  Strong. 

"  Forty,"  replied  the  man.     "  How  many  have  you  ?" 

"  Well,  not  many,  but  enough  to  defend  this  vessel." 

The  major  was  aware  that  anything  like  a  boast  of  his  numbers 
would  confirm  the  opinion  of  the  magnanimous  foe,  that  he  was  in 
reality  defenseless. 

While  this  colloquy  was  going  on,  the  two  men  in  the  hold  were 
performing  an  important  part.  They  contrived  to  make  a  great 
deal  of  noise,  and  Macdonald  continued  his  fiddling,  Major  Strong 
frequently  calling  out : 


SHIP    ISLAND.  215 

"  Keep  quiet  down  there,  men."  "  No,  don't  come  on  deck  yet." 
•'All  heads  below,  I  say."  "Major  Jones,  look  to  your  men 
there  forward,  and  keep  those  heads  below  the  hatches."  "  Stop 
that  fiddling,  Macdonald;  there'll  be  time  enough  to  dance  by 
and  by." 

The  wading  hero  returned  to  the  boats,  which  lingered  a  while, 
and  then,  firing  a  volley  at  the  sloop,  rapidly  disappeared,  and  were 
no  more  seen.  A  gun-boat  soon  came  to  the  rescue  of  the  party, 
and  the  facts  were  duly  reported  to  the  general  in  the  morning. 

The  boiling  indignation  excited  in  all  minds  by  the  dastardly  con- 
duct of  the  Biloxi  savages  may  be  imagined.  The  general  instantly 
determined  to  give  them  a  lesson  in  good  manners.  At  half-past 
two  that  very  afternoon,  two  gun-boats,  the  Jackson  and  New  Lon- 
don, and  the  transport  Lewis,  with  Colonel  Cahill's  Ninth  Connecti- 
cut, and  Captain  Everett's  battery  on  board,  sailed  for  Biloxi,  for  the 
purpose  of  conveying  that  lesson  to  their  benighted  minds.  Major 
Strong  commanded  the  expedition,  attended  by  Captain  Jonas  H. 
French,  Lieutenant  Turnbull,  Captain  Conant,  Lieutenant  Kinsman, 
Captain  Davis,  Captain  John  Clark,  and  Lieutenant  Biddle. 

Soon  after  four  o'clock,  the  armed  steamers  anchored  off  Biloxi, 
and  the  transport  Lewis  made  fast  to  the  wharf.  The  inhabitants 
lined  the  beach,  and  one  wild  son  of  Mississippi  stood  on  the 
wharf,  rifle  in  hand,  defying  the  troops  to  come  on  shore.  The 
men  were  marshaled  on  the  wharf.  Major  Strong  placed  himself 
at  their  head,  and  gave  the  word  to  advance.  The  wild  son  of 
Mississippi  retired.  In  a  few  minutes  Biloxi  was  surrounded  and 
pervaded  by  Union  troops,  the  people  looking  sullenly  and  silently 
on.  Biloxi  was  a  watering  place  in  other  times ;  the  Mississippi 
cotton-planters'  Long  Branch,  now  half  deserted,  dilapidated  and  for- 
lorn. Major  Strong  found  ample  quarters  in  the  building  which 
had  served  as  a  summer  hotel.  Two  prisoners  were  brought  in; 
one,  the  valorous  Mississippian  just  mentioned;  the  other,  a  four- 
footed  ass. 

"  What  do  you  bring  that  creature  here  for  ?"  asked  the  com- 
mander of  the  force. 

"  Isn't  he  a  Saypoy  secessionist  ?"  replied  the  Irishman  who  had 
brought  him  in. 

"  Let  him  run,"  said  the  major. 

"Very  well,  sir,"  said  the  witty  O'Dowd,  as  he  obeyed  the 


216  SHIP    ISLAND. 

order.     "  I  think  myself  we  had  better  not  touch  the  privates  till 
we  catch  the  commander." 

By  the  time  the  surrounding  country  had  been  well  reconnoitered, 
night  closed  in,  and  further  proceedings  were  deferred  till  the  mor- 
row. The  troops  slept  in  and  around  the  town.  Not  a  Biloxian 
was  molested,  not  a  house  was  plundered  or  disfigured,  not  a  hen- 
roost disturbed,  not  a  garden  despoiled.  An  Irish  officer  asked  a 
group,  where  the  blackguards  were  who  had  fired  into  the  boat 
that  brought  home  the  infernal  secessionist's  darlin'  shipwrecked 
daughter ;  but  as  he  elicited  no  response,  the  subject  was  dropped 
for  the  night.  Indeed,  the  sad,  despairing  expression  of  every  face, 
the  evident  poverty  of  the  people,  the  many  abandoned  houses,  and 
the  utter  desolation  of  the  scene,  seemed  to  disarm  the  resentment 
of  the  troops,  and  a  feeling  of  pity  for  the  "  poor  devils"  arose  in 
its  stead.  The  manner  in  which  the  caught  Mississippian  devoured 
his  rations,  led  the  men  to  infer  that  provisions  were  not  abundant 
in  Biloxi ;  which  was  found  to  be  true,  not  of  Biloxi  only,  but  of 
all  that  coast  for  hundreds  of  miles.  The  people  were  intense  and 
vigilant  devotees  of  secession,  however.  The  spy  who  had  been 
engaged  by  General  Butler  at  Washington,  six  weeks  before,  had 
accomplished  his  mission  so  far  as  to  visit  New  Orleans,  and  had 
come  to  Biloxi,  designing  to  steal  over  to  Ship  Island.  But  he  was 
there  suspected,  closely  watched,  and  finally  arrested.  He  was  then 
in  prison  at  New  Orleans.  Not  a  scrap  of  paper  was  found  upon 
him,  but  he  was  still  detained  on  suspicion. 

At  dawn  the  next  morning,  Captain  Clark  and  Lieutenant  Kins- 
man led  a  boat  chase  after  a  schooner  laden  with  molasses ;  but 
wind  proving  a  better  resource  than  oars,  the  schooner  escaped. 
As  the  day  advanced,  the  citizens  of  Biloxi  presented  themselves  at 
Major  Strong's  head-quarters,  all  avowing  themselves  secessionists, 
none  of  them  justifying  the  attack  on  the  sloop.  The  major's 
orders  were  to  procure  a  written  apology  from  the  mayor,  and 
from  the  commander  of  the  Confederate  forces,  if  any  such  there 
were.  The  mayor,  however,  kept  out  of  the  way ;  and  it  was  not 
till  his  daughter  had  been  politely  conducted  to  head-quarters  as 
a  hostage  for  his  appearance,  that  he  could  be  found.  He  gave 
the  written  apology  required,  alleging  that  the  party  who  fired 
upon  the  sloop  were  a  mob  which  he  had  no  force  to  control.  At 
sunset,  with  the  band  playing  and  colors  flying,  Major  Strong  it- 


SHIP   ISLAND.  217 

embarked  the  troops,  and  the  fleet  steamed  westward  for  Pass 
Christian,  where  a  regiment  of  the  enemy  was  posted,  and  which 
the  general's  orders  authorized  him  to  visit.  At  ten  in  the  eve- 
ning, the  steamers  anchored  off  the  pass,  and  the  troops  slept  on 
board. 

Danger  was  approaching  them  while  they  slept.  The  thunder 
of  cannon  woke  them  as  the  day  was  dawning ;  and  before  the 
troops  had  rubbed  their  eyes  open,  crash  came  a  ten-inch  shot 
through  the  transport,  perforating  the  steam-pipe,  passing  through 
the  cabin-lights,  and  out  through  the  smoke-stack.  In  an  instant, 
a  second  shot  struck  her,  which  carried  away  the  cook's  galley 
and  part  of  the  wheel-house.  Three  of  the  enemy's  gun-boats, 
their  lights  all  out,  had  stolen  from  Lake  Borgne  upon  our  little 
squadron,  and  this  was  their  morning  salutation.  A  sharp  action 
ensued.  It  was  twenty  minutes  before  the  Lewis  could  get  steam 
enough  to  move,  during  which  she  received  three  more  shots,  and 
escaped  three.  But  at  length  she  both  moved  and  acted.  Fortu- 
nately, she  had  been  provided  with  two  rifled  cannon,  which  were 
used  with  so  much  effect  as  to  materially  aid  in  the  repulse  of  the 
enemy.  The  two  gun-boats  plied  the  foe  with  shot  and  shell  for 
more  than  an  hour  before  they  thought  proper  to  seek  safety  in  the 
shallows  of  Lake  Borgne.  Strange  to  relate,  but  one  man  of  the 
Union  force  was  wounded,  and  he  slightly — Captain  Conant,  of 
the  Thirty-First  Massachusetts. 

Major  Strong  executed  his  purpose.  He  landed  his  troops,  and 
took  possession  of  the  town,  a  sea-side  summer  resort,  frequented 
by  the  people  of  New  Orleans.  He  dashed  upon  the  camp  of  the 
Confederate  regiment,  three  miles  distant,  and  reached  it  so  quickly 
after  the  flight  of  the  enemy  as  to  find  in  the  colonel's  tent  an  un- 
finished dispatch,  and  the  pen  with  which  he  was  writing  it  still 
wet  with  ink.  The  dispatch  was  designed  to  inform  General 
Lovell,  commanding  at  New  Orleans,  of  the  descent  upon  Biloxi 
and  Pass  Christian,  and  announced  the  colonel's  "  desire"  to  attack 
the  Union  troops  "  toward  evening."  The  camp  was  destroyed ; 
the  public  stores  in  the  town  were  also  seized,  part  of  them  carried 
away,  and  the  rest  burnt. 

At  Pass  Christian,  the  Union  officers  had  their  first  taste  of  the 
quality  and  humor  of  the  ladies  of  the  south-west. 

"A  portion  of  the  women,"  writes  an  officer,  "  stood  their  ground ; 


218  SHIP   ISLAND. 

Mrs.  and  Miss  Lee  were  of  this  number.  Mrs.  Lee  and  her  husband 
keep  a  hotel,  which  is  known  as  '  Lee's  boarding  house.'  It  is  a 
snug  inn.  But  Mrs.  Lee  is  a  tartar.  She  told  Major  Strong,  that 
'  Mr.  Lee,  although  he  kept  a  hotel,  was  of  one  of  the  first  families 
of  Virginia.' 

'"I  dare  say,'  replied  the  Major ;  '  there  is  nothing  incompatible 
with  great  qualities  in  the  business  he  pursues  !' 

"While  this  parley  was  going  on,  Miss  Lee  pushed  herself  through 
the  front  door.  She  pouted  as  she  passed  over  the  portico,  pulling 
as  she  went  an  unwilling  hood  over  her  handsome  face,  then  some- 
what disfigured  by  a  frown. 

"  After  the  miniature  sea  and  land  fights,  the  officers  met  again 
at  Lee's  boarding  house.  Bread  and  butter,  and  poor  claret,  were 
the  substance  of  the  repast ;  Mrs.  Lee  and  her  fire-emitting  daugh- 
ter insisting  upon  occupying  chairs  at  the  table,  while  Mr.  Lee 
waited  upon  the  guests  and  drew  the  corks.  The  display  of  appe- 
tite was  good.  I  think  every  man  ate  the  worth  of  the  gold  dollar 
which  he  gave  Mrs.  Lee,  who  carefully  folded  away  the  hateful  Lin- 
coln coin  in  the  corner  of  her  dirty  apron.  It  struck  me  as  queer 
to  see  this  '  first  lady'  in  clothes  which  soap  could  have  improved." 

Miss  Lee  could  not  be  appeased.  She  continued  to  pout  and 
frown,  and  to  say  rude  things  to  the  officers  in  reply  to  their  polite 
banter,  when  silence  or  witty  retort  would  have  been  in  better  ac- 
cord with  the  lofty  claims  of  her  family. 

The  squadron  returned  to  Ship  Island  without  farther  adventure. 
General  Butler  marked  his  sense  of  the  excellent  conduct  of  the 
troops  in  a  general  order : 

"  Of  their  bravery  in  the  field,"  he  said,  "  he  felt  assured ;  but 
another  quality,  more  trying  to  the  soldier,  claims  his  admiration. 
After  having  been  for  months  subjected  to  the  privations  neces- 
sarily incident  to  camp  life  upon  this  island,  these  well-disciplined 
soldiers,  although  for  many  hours  in  full  possession  of  two  rebel  vil- 
lages, filled  with  what  to  them  were  most  desirable  luxuries,  ab- 
staining from  the  least  unauthorized  interference  with  private  prop- 
erty, and  all  molestation  of  peaceable  citizens.  This  behavior  is 
worthy  of  all  praise.  It  robs  war  of  half  its  horrors — it  teaches  our 
enemies  how  much  they  have  been  misinformed  by  their  designing 
leaders,  as  to  the  character  of  our  soldiers  and  the  intention  of  our 
government — it  gives  them  a  lesson  and  an  example  in  humanity 


REDUCTION   OF   THE    FOBTS.  219 

and  civilized  warfare  much  needed,  however  little  it  may  be  fol- 
lowed. The  general  commanding  commends  the  action  of  the  men 
of  this  expedition  to  every  soldier  in  this  department.  Let  it  be 
imitated  by  all  in  the  towns  and  cities  we  occupy,  a  living  witness 
that  the  United  States  soldier  fights  only  for  the  Union,  the  con- 
stitution, and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws." 

Readers  will  care  to  know,  that  the  child,  the  unconscious  cause 
of  these  proceedings,  was  restored  to  her  parents.  Her  father  was 
seeking  her  at  Fort  Pickens,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  while  Major 
Strong  was  conveying  her  to  Biloxi.  Her  mother,  some  weeks 
later,  induced  the  gentleman  to  call  upon  General  Butler  at  New 
Orleans,  and  thank  him  for  his  goodness  to  their  offspring. 

April  15th,  the  welcome  word  came  from  Captain  Farragut,  that 
all  his  fleet  were  over  the  bar,  and  reloaded,  and  that  he  hoped,  the 
next  day,  to  move  up  the  river  to  the  vicinity  of  the  forts.  He  had 
made  all  possible  haste ;  but  the  dense,  continuous  fogs,  and  the  ex- 
traordinary lowness  of  the  water  had  retarded  every  movement. 
On  the  1 7th,  General  Butler  was  at  the  mouths  of  the  river  with 
his  six  thousand  troops  ready  to  co-operate.  If  the  fleet  had  been 
delayed  a  few  days  longer,  General  Butler  would  have  taken  Pen- 
sacola,  which  he  learned  had  been  left  almost  defenseless.  The 
naval  commander  vetoed  the  scheme,  not  anticipating  further  delay 
in  operating  against  the  forts. 


CHAPTER  XHI. 

REDUCTION   OF   THE   FOBTS. 


The  distance  from  the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans 
is  one  hundred  and  five  miles.  The  two  forts  are  situated  at  a 
bend  in  the  river,  seventy-five  miles  below  the  city,  and  thirty  from 
the  place  where  the  river  breaks  into  the  passes  or  mouths.  Fort 
Jackson,  on  the  western  bank,  is  hidden  from  the  view  of  the  as- 
cending voyager  by  a  strip  of  dense  woods,  which  extends  along 
the  bank  to  a  point  eight  miles  below  it ;  but  Fort  St.  Philip,  on 
the  eastern  shore,  lies  plainly  in  sight,  because  it  is  placed  in  th« 
10 


220  REDUCTION    OP   THE   FOETS. 

upper  part  of  the  bend,  and  the  ground  in  front  is  covered  only  by 
a  thick  growth  of  reeds.  These  forts  do  not  look  very  formidable 
to  the  unprofessional  eye.  They  do  not  stand  boldly  out  of  the 
water,  presenting  great  masses  of  fine  masonry,  like  those  to  which 
we  are  accustomed  in  northern  seaports.  Fort  Jackson  is  but 
twenty-five  feet  high,  and  St.  Philip  nineteen ;  and  as  the  ditches 
and  outer  works  are  neatly  sodded,  the  passing  traveler  sees  little 
more  than  extensive  slopes  of  green,  close-shaven  grass,  and  a 
low  red-brick  wall,  with  many  guns  mounted  on  it,  and  several 
piercing  it. 

But  these  forts,  lying  low  in  the  bend  of  a  river  half  a  mile  wide 
and  running  four  miles  an  hour,  presented  an  obstacle  to  an  ascend- 
ing foe  such  as,  I  believe,  no  fleet  had  ever  been  able  to  overcome. 
One  poor  fort  at  that  bend,  half  finished  and  half  manned,  had 
kept  a  British  fleet  at  bay,  in  1815,  for  nine  days;  the  English 
vainly  using  the  same  thirteen-inch  bombs  which  were  to  be  em- 
ployed in  1862.  General  Jackson's  "Tom  Overton,"  who  com- 
manded Fort  St.  Philip  on  that  occasion,  was  uncle  of  Thomas 
Overton  Moore,  governor  of  Louisiana  under  Jefferson  Davis.  It 
was  not  till  the  eighth  day  that  Overton  could  get  one  bomb  in 
position  capable  of  throwing  a  shell  among  the  enemy,  but  that 
one  sent  them  flying  down  the  river — two  bomb  vessels,  one  brig, 
one  sloop  and  one  schooner.  A  thousand  heavy  shells  had  fallen 
about  the  fort,  without  impairing  its  defensive  power.*  But  now 
there  were  two  forts  in  the  bend,  constructed  by  professional  engi- 
neers, at  a  cost  of  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  dollars.  Fort  Jackson, 
a  five-sided  work,  of  immense  strength,  mounted  seventy-four  guns, 
fourteen  of  which  were  under  cover ;  and  below  it  was  a  supple- 
mentary battery  mounting  six.  Fort  St.  Philip  was  of  inferior 
strength,  mounting  forty  guns ;  but  it  was  protected  by  distance, 
being  a  few  hundred  yards  higher  up  the  river,  and  had  a  strong 
battery  on  each  side  of  it  on  the  river  bank.  The  unmilitary  reader 
does  not  take  the  comfort  which  uncle  Toby  found  in  such  words 
as  bastion,  glacis,  scarp,  counterscarp,  fosse,  covered-way,  curtain, 
casemate  and  barbette.  We  are  informed,  however,  that  the 
forts  had  all  these  things  and  more.  I  have  often  looked  out  those 
words  in  the  dictionary,  and  find  the  sum  total  of  their  meaning  to 
be,  that  the  forts,  with  their  outer  works,  pointed  one  hundred  and 

*  Parton's  Life  of  Jackson,  ii.,  239. 


REDUCTION    OF   THE    FORTS.  221 

twenty-eight  heavy  guns  upon  the  river;  that  fourteen  of  those 
guns  could  be  worked  under  cover,  and  that  the  batteries  were 
protected  by  ditches  wide  and  deep,  by  walls  of  immense  strength, 
by  bulwarks  of  earth  and  sods,  and  by  enfilading  howitzers.  All 
had  been  done  for  them  which  the  skill  of  Beauregard  and  Weit- 
zel  could  accomplish,  working  with  leisurely  deliberation,  and 
aided  by  the  treasury  of  the  United  States.  What  they  had  left 
undone,  the  zeal  of  the  Confederates  had  supplied  during  many 
months  of  preparation. 

They  were  garrisoned,  as  it  appears,  by  fifteen  hundred  men, 
commanded  by  General  J.  K.  Duncan,  a  recreant  Pennsylvanian, 
educated  at  West  Point.  The  commander  of  St.  Philip  was  Col- 
onel Higgins,  once  an  officer  of  the  army  of  the  United  States.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  garrisons  were  men  of  northern  birth,  who 
had  been  consigned  to  the  forts  because  their  devotion  to  the  Con- 
federate cause  was  considered  questionable.  But  experience  shows 
that  it  is  a  matter  of  little  consequence  by  what  process  men  are 
got  together  within  the  brick  walls  of  a  fort  or  the  wooden  walls 
of  a  ship,  provided  they  are  ably,  justly,  and  firmly  commanded. 
"  An  English  seventy-four,"  says  Carlyle,  "  is  one  of  the  impossi- 
blest  entities.  A  press-gang  knocks  men  down  in  the  streets  of 
sea-towns,  and  drags  them  on  board.  If  the  ship  were  to  be  strand- 
ed, I  have  heard  they  would  nearly  all  run  ashore  and  desert." 
Nevertheless,  while  the  ship  remains  at  sea,  they  usually  do  all  that 
the  various  occasions  demand.  Duncan  had  a  motley,  ill-clad,  dis- 
contented, and  rather  turbulent  garrison,  but  they  stood  manfully 
to  the  guns  as  long  as  standing  to  the  guns  could  avail. 

The  weakness  of  the  forts  was  the  kind  of  guns  with  which  they 
were  armed.  "  All  of  them,"  says  Lieutenant  Weitzel,  "  were  the 
old,  smooth-bore  guns  picked  up  at  the  different  works  around  the 
city,  with  the  exception  of  about  six  ten-inch  columbiads,  and  two 
one  hundred  pound  rifled  guns  of  their  own  manufacture,  a  formi- 
dable kind  of  gun."  He  is  of  the  opinion  that  if  the  forts  had 
been  provided  with  a  full  complement  of  the  best  modern  artillery, 
they  could  not  have  been  reduced  or  passed  by  wooden  ships. 

It  was  not,  however,  upon  the  forts  that  the  enemy  wholly  relied. 
Across  the  river,  from  a  point  just  below  Fort  Jackson,  a  cable 
was  stretched,  upon  which  the  enemy  had  expended  prodigious 
labor.     They  had  first  supported  it  by  heavy  logs  thirty  feet  long 


222 


REDUCTION    OF   THE    FOETS. 


attached  to  seven  large  anchors.  But  this  cable  caught  the  float- 
ing trees  and  timber  which,  in  a  few  weeks,  formed  a  heaped-up, 
Red-river  raft,  extending  half  a  mile  above  the  cable.  The  chain 
broke  at  length,  and  the  whole  structure,  cable,  logs,  anchor,  buoys, 
and  trees,  were  swept  down  by  the  current  toward  the  gulf.  A 
lighter  cable  was  then  procured  from  the  stores  at  Pensacola. 
Seven  or  eight  schooners,  dismasted  and  filled  with  logs,  were 
strongly  anchored  in  a  row  across  the  river,  and  the  chain  was  laid 
across  each  of  them  and  securely  fastened  round  the  capstan.  At 
the  end  of  the  cable,  on  the  shore  opposite  Fort  Jackson,  a  mud 
battery  was  built  to  drive  off  parties  attempting  to  sever  the  bar- 
rier. Under  this  cable  the  floating  timber  freely  passed ;  and  there 
was  an  ingenious  contrivance  near  the  fort,  by  which  the  vessels  of 
the  foe  were  quickly  admitted  and  the  aperture  quickly  closed. 

This  cable,  because  of  its  signal  failure  as  a  means  of  defense,  has 
been  too  lightly  regarded.  It  might  have  been  a  formidable  obsta- 
cle. Our  naval  officers  think  that  if  it  had  been  placed  just  above 
St.  Philip,  instead  of  just  below  Fort  Jackson,  it  could  scarcely 
have  been  cut ;  because,  in  that  case,  the  party  attempting  it 
would  have  had  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  a  hundred  guns  against  a 
rapid  current,  remain  under  the  fire  of  most  of  them  during  the 
operation,  and  then  descend  two  miles  under  the  same  fire  before 
reaching  the  fleet.  Placed  where  it  was,  however,  there  was  rea- 
son to  hope  that  a  party  could  steal  silently  upon  it  in  the  dark- 
ness of  a  foggy  night,  and  work  upon  it  for  a  considerable  time 
before  being  discovered ;  and  even  if  discovered,  the  night  fire  of 
heavy  guns  might  be  borne  long  enough  to  effect  the  object ;  par- 
ticularly as  the  supporting  hulks  would  afford  cover  for  the  boats. 
The  cable  was  not  ill-planned,  but  wrongly  placed. 

Another  error  appears  to  have  been  committed  by  the  enemy,  in 
not  cutting  away  more  of  the  woods  below  Fort  Jackson.  They 
removed  enough  to  enable  them  to  bring  their  guns  to  bear  upon 
the  channel  of  the  river,  but  left  enough  for  Captain  Porter  to 
string  his  bomb-schooners  behind  along  the  western  shore,  around 
the  bend,  completely  out  of  sight.  He  had  no  need  to  see  his 
object,  for  his  bombs  were  purposely  set  to  throw  the  shells  high 
into  the  air  and  down  upon  the  forts  like  falling  meteors ;  but  their 
guns  were  designed  to  be  sighted  and  aimed  at  a  visible  mark. 
The  forts  were  stationary,  and  their  exact  position  was  known ;  the 


REDUCTION    OF  THE    FORTS.  223 

schooners  were  movable,  and  could  only  be  hit  by  chance,  unless 
they  could  be  seen. 

Besides  the  forts  and  the  cable,  the  enemy  had  a  fleet  of  fourteen 
or  fifteen  gun-boats,  several  of  which  were  iron-clad.  ~No  one  has 
thought  it  worth  while  to  draw  up  a  descriptive  catalogue  of  these 
vessels,  and  none  of  them  ventured  far  below  the  cable  after  Cap- 
tain Farragut  had  got  his  fleet  into  the  river.  The  sudden  collapse 
and  total  destruction  of  most  of  them  in  the  haze  and  darkness  of 
an  April  morning,  deprived  our  men  of  an  opportunity  of  studying 
their  construction.  The  greater  number  were  probably  river  steam- 
boats, strengthened  and  armed.  "  The  celebrated  ram  Manassas" 
resembled  the  Merrimac  in  appearance,  but  was  not  a  Merrimac  in 
power  or  strength.  One  real  Merrimac  dashing  down  headlorg 
among  our  wooden  ships,  might  have  given  them  some  damaging 
blows — might  have  driven  them  out  of  the  river ;  but  the  builders 
of  "  the  celebrated  ram  Manassas"  had  not  a  steam  frigate  to  servo 
as  the  basis  of  their  structure,  and  they  knew  her  too  well  to  trus'; 
her  among  Captain  Farra gut's  steamers.  There  was  also  a  hugo 
thing  called  the  Louisiana,  built  upon  the  hull  of  a  dry  dock,  pro- 
pelled by  four  engines,  anc^arrned  with  sixteen  heavy  guns.  Thw 
ponderous  engine  of  war  was  a  main  reliance  of  the  enemy,  but  it 
was  not  finished  in  time  to  join  in  the  fray.  Fire-rafts  and  long 
river-scows  filled  with  pine  knots  had  been  prepared  in  considera- 
ble numbers  for  the  entertainment  of  the  attacking  fleet. 

In  the  swamps,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Fort  Jackson,  two  hundred 
"  sharp-shooters"  were  stationed,  whose  chief  employment  was  to 
scout  along  the  banks  of  the  river  and  overhear  conversation  in  the 
fleet.  It  may  have  been  these  men  who  conveyed  to  General  Dun- 
can the  most  prompt  and  accurate  information  of  every  movement 
of  our  ships,  and  every  scheme  of  movement.  Such  information 
we  know  that  he  had.  The  camp  of  the  scouting  sharp-shooters 
was  not  undisturbed  during  the  operations,  and  many  of  them  de- 
serted ;  but,  probably,  enough  remained  to  catch  the  talk  of  the 
sailors  plying  their  bombs  a  few  yards  from  the  shore. 

The  confidence  of  the  enemy  in  their  ability  to  defend  the  forts 
against  any  possible  force — against  "  the  navies  of  the  world" — was 
complete.  It  was  long  before  General  Duncan  and  Colonel  Hig- 
gins  believed  that  the  fleet  would  do  more  than  reconnoiter  the 
position,  or,  perhaps,  transfer  the  blockading  station  to  the  head  of 


224  REDUCTION-   OF   THE   FORTS. 

the  passes.  This  of  itself  would  have  been  an  advantage  worth 
considerable  outlay.  But  their  position  they  firmly  believed  was 
impregnable ;  and,  perhaps,  it  was  impregnable.  Certain  it  is  that 
the  forts  were  never  taken. 

For  the  reduction  of  these  forts,  thus  defended  and  supported, 
there  was  then  in  the  Mississippi  the  most  powerful  expedition  that 
had  ever  sailed  under  the  flag  of  the  United  States.  The  strength 
and  composition  of  the  army  we  have  seen  ;  it  consisted  of  fifteen 
thousand  troops,  most  of  them  men  of  New  England,  fully  provi- 
ded with  the  means  of  offensive  war,  and  led  by  a  general  endowed 
by  nature  with  the  ability  to  command,  and  trained  by  education 
to  assume  responsibilities  and  invent  expedients.  The  fleet  con- 
sisted of  forty-seven  armed  vessels,  of  which  eight  were  large  and 
powerful  sloops  of  war  propelled  by  steam  ;  seventeen  were  steam 
gun-boats,  most  of  them  new,  and  all  heavily  armed ;  two  were  sail- 
ing vessels,  ranking  as  sloops  of  war ;  and  twenty-one  were  mortar 
schooners,  each  provided  with  a  bomb  capable  of  throwing  a  shell 
weighing  two  hundred  and  fifteen  pounds  to  a  distance  of  three 
miles.  The  steam  sloops  carried  from  nine  to  twenty-eight  guns 
each ;  the  gun-boats  five  or  six  guns  each.  The  whole  number  of 
guns  and  mortars  was  about  three  hundred  and  ten ;  many  of  the 
heaviest  caliber,  and  of  the  newest  construction. 

The  fleet  had  been  provided  with  everything  which  naval  men 
could  suggest  as  likely  to  increase  its  efficiency.  We  have  heard  a 
great  deal  concerning  the  imaginary  somnolence  of  the  heads  of 
the  navy  department.  I  suppose  this  has  been  because  the  navy 
department  has  been  conducted  with  such  consummate  energy  and 
tact,  and  with  a  wonderful  uniformity  of  triumph.  We  can  not 
praise  enough  our  generals  who  have  failed,  nor  censure  with  too 
much  severity  a  department  which  has  known  little  but  success.. 
Both  in  fitting  out  this  expedition  and  in  selecting  the  men  to  com- 
mand it,  the  department  displayed  a  foresight  and  ability  that 
proved  sufficient  in  the  day  of  trial.  There  were  only  two  mis- 
haps :  a  delay  in  the  arrival  of  the  medical  stores,  and  a  scant  sup- 
ply of  coal,  owing  to  the  month's  detention  in  getting  the  ships  over 
the  bar.  But  General  Butler,  through  the  wise  abundance  provi- 
ded by  Captain  George,  was  able  to  lend  Captain  Farragut  a  com- 
petent supply  of  surgeons'  stores  and  a  thousand  tons  of  coal. 

The  men  in  chief  command  of  the  fleet  had  spent  their  lives  in 


REDUCTION    OF   THE   FORTS.  225 

the  navy.  Of  the  sixty-three  years  that  Captain  Farragut  had  lived, 
lie  had  been  fifty-two  an  officer  in  the  navy  of  the  United  States. 
He  was  a  boy  midshipman  as  far  back  as  the  war  of  1812,  not  un- 
distinguished then  in  at  least  one  bloody  sea-fight.  Though  ad- 
vanced in  years,  his  heart  was  young,  his  frame  light  and  active,  his 
face  and  bearing  those  of  a  man  of  middle  age.  "  He  was  the  young- 
est man  in  the  fleet,"  says  General  Butler ;  alert  in  climbing  to  the 
mast-head,  quick  in  getting  into  his  boat,  capable  of  long-continued, 
severe  exertion.*  A  modest,  quiet  man,  doing  his  duty  with  the 
minimum  of  show  and  fuss,  using  simple  words,  preferring  simple 
topics.  Above  all,  he  has  a  firm,  brave,  honest  heart,  that  can  not 
be  dismayed  by  phantoms,  and  knows  no  fear,  except  the  noble 
dread,  lest  in  any  way,  through  fault  of  his,  the  fleet  intrusted  to 
his  care  should  disappoint  the  reasonable  expectations  of  the  coun- 
try. The  language  of  eulogy  is  so  lavishly  employed  in  these  times, 
that  it  has  acquired  an  opprobrious  quality.  But  these  things  are 
literally  true  of  this  valiant  and  noble  Tennessean.  The  country 
knows  what  he  has  done;  but  his  modest  worth,  his  utter  sincerity, 
his  entire  and  single-eyed  devotion  to  his  duty ;  of  these  there  will 
be  much  to  tell,  when  the  final  record  is  made  up.  It  is  pleasing  to 
notice  in  the  papers  relating  to  the  expedition,  how  perfect  was  the 
accord  between  the  commander  of  the  fleet,  and  the  commander  of 
the  army.  Whatever  either  could  do,  during  their  long  connection, 
to  forward  the  plans,  or  enhance  the  glory  of  the  other,  was  done 
with  generous  promptitude  and  fullness. 

The  month  of  delay  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  had  been  well 
spent.  Assistant-engineer  Hoyt,  of  the  Richmond,  conceived  the 
happy  idea  of  protecting  the  boiler  and  engine  of  his  ship  by  an 
extemporized  armor  of  chain-cable,  hung  down  from  the  gun-deck 
to  below  the  water-line,  and  fastened  by  an  ingenious  system  of 
bolts  and  cordage.  The  engineers  of  the  Brooklyn,  Pensacola  and 
Iroquois  employed  the  same  contrivance,  which  was  supposed  to 
be  equivalent  to  a  four-inch  plating  of  iron.  The  boilers  of  other 
vessels  were  protected  by  an  interior  structure  of  sand-bags,  layers 

*  Tennesseans  arc  young  at  seventy.  Tennessee,  that  central  garden-land  of  the  country,  com- 
bining the  advantages  of  North  and  South,  and  better  adapted  for  all  human  purposes  than  any 
other  region  on  the  continent,  is  singularly  favorable  to  longevity.  It  abounds  in  wonderful  old 
men.  Have  we  not  seen  this  very  summer,  Majok  William  B.  Lewis,  of  Nashville  (staunch 
and  true  to  the  Union,  of  course),  walking  the  streets  of  New  T  ork  ten  hours  a  day,  and  carrying 
his  eighty  years  with  the  gayety  and  ease  of  a  young  man  t 


226  REDUCTION    OF  THE   FORTS. 

of  cable,  bales  of  bagging,  and  logs.  Howitzers  were  placed  in 
the  tops  of  all  the  sloops,  protected  by  plates  of  boiler  iron,  or  thick 
screens  of  cordage.  Some  of  the  vessels  had  small  anchors  at  their 
yard-arms,  to  drop  down  upon  the  enemy's  gun-boats  and  fire-rafts, 
and  grapple  them.  Strong  nettings  of  cordage  were  drawn  under 
the  rigging,  to  prevent  the  cannon-balls,  which  might  be  stopped 
aloft,  from  dropping  on  deck.  All  the  bomb-schooners,  and  several 
of  the  gun-boats  and  sloops  received  a  coat  of  mud-colored  paint. 
Last  of  all,  to  the  masts  of  the  greater  number  of  the  bomb-vessels 
were  fastened  large  branches  of  trees,  which,  mingling  with  the 
tree-tops  of  the  sheltering  forest,  would  still  more  completely  con- 
ceal them  from  the  enemy.  A  few  of  these  vessels,  which  were 
designed  to  be  stationed  in  full  view  of  Fort  St.  Philip,  were 
covered  with  a  coating  of  the  reeds  which  grew  on  the  marshy  level 
in  front  of  the  fort.  All  hands,  under  the  direction  of  the  engineers, 
labored  incessantly  to  increase  the  offensive  and  defensive  power  of 
the  fleet ;  and  it  was  to  this  month's  preliminary  work  that  the 
success  of  the  expedition  was  chiefly  owing.  Not  one  precaution 
too  many  was  taken ;  every  expedient  was  justified  by  its  manifest 
utility  in  the  hour  of  trial.  The  absence  of  the  chain-plating  from 
the  sides  of  the  flag-ship  proved  the  value  of  that  mode  of  pro- 
tection ;  for,  at  a  critical  moment,  the  want  of  it  nearly  lost  the 
ship. 

Meanwhile,  the  gentlemen  of  the  coast-survey,  under  Mr.  F.  H. 
Gerdes,  specially  detailed  by  Professor  Bache  for  the  purpose, 
were  busy  in  preparing  a  chart  for  the  guidance  of  Captain  Porter 
in  stationing  his  bomb-vessels.  This  was  an  indispensable  prelimi- 
nary, since  nearly  every  bomb  was  expected  to  be  discharged  upon 
a  computed  aim.  The  map  was  completed  in  five  days,  but  not 
without  difficulty  and  danger.  "  Frequently,"  says  Mr.  Gerdes, 
"  the  members  of  the  party  were  compelled  to  mount  their  instru- 
ments on  the  chimney-tops  of  dilapidated  houses.  In  other  places 
boats  were  run  under  overhanging  trees  on  the  shore,  in  which 
signal-flags  were  hoisted,  and  the  angles  measured  below  with  sex- 
tants. It  was  very  satisfactory,  however,  that  the  last  measure- 
ment determined  (leading  to  the  flag-staff  on  St.  Philip)  agreed 
almost  identically  with  the  location  given  by  the  coast-survey 
several  years  ago.  It  seemed  to  be  a  regular  occupation  of  the 
garrison  in  the  fort,  to  destroy,  during  the  night-time,  the  marks 


REDUCTION    OP   THE   FOETS.  227 

and  signals  which  were  left  daily  by  the  party  ;  and  for  this  reason, 
Mr.  Gerdes  caused  numbered  posts  to  be  set  in  the  river  banks, 
and  screened  with  grass  and  reeds  so  that  they  could  not  be  found 
by  the  enemy  in  the  dark.  From  these  marks,  which  were  sepa- 
rately determined,  he  was  enabled  to  furnish  to  Captain  Porter  the 
distances  and  bearings  from  almost  any  point  on  the  river  to  the 
forts,  and  by  the  resulting  data  the  commander  selected  the 
positions  for  his  mortar-vessels.  *  *  *  Twice  Captain  Porter 
ordered  some  of  the  vessels  to  change  their  positions  when  he 
found  localities  that  would  answer  better ;  the  coast-survey  party 
furnished  the  new  data  required.  From  the  schooners,  which  were 
fastened  to  the  trees  on  the  river-side,  none  of  the  works  of  the 
enemy  were  visible,  but  the  exact  station  of  each  vessel,  and  its 
distance  and  bearings  from  the  forts,  had  been  ascertained  from 
the  chart.  The  mortars  were  accordingly  charged  and  pointed, 
and  the  fuses  regulated.  Thus  the  bombardment  was  conducted 
entirely  upon  theoretical  principles,  and  as  such,  with  its  results, 
presents  perhaps  a  new  feature  in  naval  warfare."* 

The  position  of  the  enemy  had  been  repeatedly  reconnoitered. 
As  early  as  March  28th,  Captain  Bell,  in  the  gun-boat  Kennebec, 
had  run  up  near  enough  to  inspect  the  cable,  and  to  discover  the 
out-lying  batteries,  and  to  draw  a  thundering  fire  from  both  forts. 
On  the  6th  of  April,  Captain  Farragut  himself  had  a  peep  at  them, 
Captain  Bell  showing  the  way.  "  About  noon,"  says  one  who 
accompanied,  "  we  came  in  sight  of  the  two  forts,  which  could  be 
seen  through  the  glass  to  be  thronged  with  rebel  officers  watching 
our  movements.  As  we  came  within  range,  a  white  puff  of  smoke 
floated  upward  from  Fort  Jackson,  and  a  hundred-pound  rifled  shell 
screeched  through  the  air,  striking  the  water  and  exploding  only 
about  a  hundred  yards  in  advance  of  us.  Flag-Officer  Farragut 
and  Flag-Captain  Bell  had  meanwhile  gone  aloft,  where  they  sat 
in  the  cross-trees  taking  observations.  There  was  another  white 
puff  of  smoke,  and  another  monster  shot  came  screeching  toward 
us.  This  passed  perhaps  fifty  feet  over  the  heads  of  the  gentlemen 
aloft,  and  struck  the  water  two-thirds  across  the  river.  4  Back 
her,'  from  aloft,  and  we  drift  down  the  river  two  or  three  ships' 
lengths,  and  only  just  in  time,  a  third  furious  shell  striking  and 
bursting  in  the  water  just  at  the  point  we  had  a  moment  before 

*  Continental  Monthly,  May,  1863. 

10* 


228  REDUCTION    OF   THE   FORTS. 

left.  A  low  murmur  of  applause  at  this  remarkably  excellent  gun- 
nery is  drawn  from  our  men  as  we  steam  slowly  up  again.  Another 
shot  falls  short,  another  bursts  prematurely  (this  one  from  a  forty- 
two-pound  smooth-bore),  when  \  whiz-z-z-z,'  with  a  fearful  sound, 
a  hundred  pound  shell  passes  low  down,  between  our  smoke-stack 
and  mainmast,  the  wind  of  its  swift  passage  actually  rocking  one 
of  the  ship's  boats  hanging  on  the  side."* 

A  third  reconnoissance  was  more  cheering,  since  it  revealed  the 
enemy  employed  in  repairing  the  cable  damaged  by  the  rush  of  a 
sudden  rise  of  the  river.  The  sailors  of  the  fleet  held  the  cable  in 
much  contempt. 

The  last  day  of  preparation  is  usually  the  busiest.  It  was  the 
17th  of  April.  The  fleet  had  all  reached  the  vicinity  of  the  forts 
on  the  evening  previous,  and  the  dawn  of  the  17th  found  the  ves- 
sels anchored  in  a  tempting  huddle  four  miles  below  Fort  Jackson. 
The  rebels  began  the  fight.  As  the  sun  was  rising,  a  flat-boat 
piled  with  wood  saturated  with  tar  and  turpentine,  was  fired  by 
them  and  cut  adrift.  A  fresh  wind  was  blowing  up  the  river,  and 
the  descent  of  this  magnificent  bonfire  was  slow.  Nevertheless,  it 
came,  at  length,  roaring  and  blazing  by,  causing  a  sudden  slipping 
of  cables  and  a  general  anxiety  to  get  out  of  the  way.  As  it  was 
supposed  to  contain  something  of  the  torpedo  kind,  the  Mississippi 
fired  a  few  shells  into  it,  without  effect.  A  boat  from  the  Iroquois 
soon  tackled  the  monster,  and,  fixing  three  grappling-irons  in  the 
leeward  end,  towed  it  ashore,  where  it  burned  itself  harmlessly 
away.  The  work  of  preparation  then  proceeded.  The  dressing  of 
the  masts  of  the  mortar-boats  was  completed,  and  they  looked  as 
if  prepared  for  a  festival  instead  of  a  bombardment.  In  the  after- 
noon, some  of  the  mortars  were  towed  into  position  and  fired  a  few 
experimental  shells,  fragments  of  which  were  exhibited  the  next 
day  at  New  Orleans.  Preparations  were  made  by  Captain  Porter 
for  the  proper  reception  of  fire-rafts,  in  case  the  enemy  should 
again  employ  them.  All  the  boats  of  the  mortar-fleet  were  ordered 
to  be  provided  with  axes,  ropes,  and  grappling-hooks ;  and  early  in 
the  evening,  the  boats  were  reviewed,  furnishing  a  pretty  spectacle 
to  the  rest  of  the  fleet ;  nay,  a  pair  of  spectacles. 

"  The  boats  pulled  round  the  Harriet  Lane,  the  flag-ship  of  Cap- 
tain Porter,  in  single  line,  each  officer  in  charge  being  questioned 

*  Correspondence  of  New  York  Herald,  May,  1862. 


REDUCTION    OP   THE    FORTS.  229 

as  he  passed,  by  Commodore  Porter,  as  follows:  'Fire  buckets? 
axes  ?  rope  ?'  A  responsive  c  Ay,  ay,  sir,'  and  the  commodore 
directed — '  Pull  around  the  Mississippi  and  return  to  your  vessels.' 
The  Mississippi  being  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ahead,  the  men  gave  way 
sturdily,  in  order  to  beat  the  rival  boats.  There  were  not  less  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  boats  under  review,  many  of  them  ten-oared, 
and  the  whole  scene  reminded  me  more  of  a  grand  regatta  than  of 
anything  else. 

"  An  hour  after  the  review,  the  men  had  an  opportunity  to  test, 
in  a  practical  manner,  their  means  for  destroying  fire-rafts,  and  they 
proved  to  be  an  admirable  success.  A  turgid  column  of  black 
smoke,  arising  from  resinous  wood,  was  seen  approaching  us  from 
the  vicinity  of  the  forts.  Signal  lights  were  made,  the  varied 
colors  of  which  produced  a  beautiful  effect  upon  the  foliage  of  the 
river  bank,  and  rendered  the  darkness  intenser  by  contrast  when 
they  disappeared ;  instantly  a  hundred  boats  shot  out  toward  the 
raft,  which  now  was  blazing  fiercely  and  casting  a  wide  zone  of 
light  upon  the  water.  Two  or  three  of  the  gun-boats  then  got 
under  way  and  steamed  boldly  toward  the  unknown  thing  of  terror. 
One  of  them,  the  Westfield,  Captain  Renshaw,  gallantly  opens  her 
steam-valves,  and  dashes  furiously  upon  it,  making  sparks  fly  and 
timbers  crash  with  the  force  of  her  blow.  Then  a  stream  of  water 
from  her  hose  plays  upon  the  blazing  mass.  Now  the  small  boats 
lay  alongside,  coming  up  helter-skelter,  and  actively  employing 
their  men.  We  see  everything  distinctly  in  the  broad  glare — men, 
oars,  boats,  buckets  and  ropes.  The  scene  looks  phantom-like,  su- 
pernatural ;  intensely  interesting,  inextricably  confused.  But  final- 
ly the  object  is  nobly  accomplished.  The  raft,  yet  fiercely  burning, 
is  taken  out  of  range  of  the  anchored  vessels  and  towed  ashore, 
where  it  is  slowly  consumed.  As  the  boats  return  they  are  cheered 
by  the  fleet,  and  the  scene  changes  to  one  of  darkness  and  repose, 
broken  occasionally  by  tlje  -gruff  hail  of  a  seaman  when  a  boat, 
sent  on  business  from  one  vessel  to  another,  passes  through  the 
fleet."* 

The  next  morning  the  bombardment  began.  At  daylight,  each 
of  the  small  steamers  attached  to  the  mortar-fleet  took  four  of  the 
schooners  in  tow,  and  drew  them  slowly  up  the  river,  the  bright 
green  foliage  waving  above  their  masts.     Fourteen  of  them  were 

*  Correspondence  of  the  2few  York  Dwily  Times,  May  8, 1862. 


230  REDUCTION    OF   THE   POETS. 

ranged  in  line,  close  together,  along  the  western  shore,  behind  the 
forest ;  the  one  in  advance  being  a  mile  and  three-quarters  below 
Fort  Jackson.  Six  were  stationed  near  the  eastern  bank,  in  full 
view  of  both  forts,  two  miles  and  three-quarters  from  St.  Philip. 
The  orders  were  to  concentrate  the  fire  upon  Fort  Jackson,  the 
nearest  to  both  divisions ;  since  if  that  were  reduced,  St.  Philip 
must  necessarily  yield.  At  nine,  before  all  the  mortar-vessels  were 
in  position,  Fort  Jackson  began  the  conflict,  the  balls  plunging  into 
the  water  a  hundred  yards  too  short.  The  gun-boat  Owasco,  which 
had  steamed  up  ahead  of  the  schooners,  was  the  first  to  reply.  In 
a  few  minutes,  however,  the  deep  thunder  of  the  first  bomb  struck 
into  the  overture,  and  a  huge  black  ball,  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
pounds  of  iron  and  gunpowder,  whirled  aloft,  a  mile  into  the  air, 
with  the  "  roar  of  ten  thousand  humming-tops,"  and  curved  with 
majestic  slowness  down  into  the  swamp  near  the  fort,  exploding 
with  a  dull,  heavy  sound.  The  mortar  men  were  in  no  haste.  For 
the  first  half  hour,  they  fired  very  slowly,  while  Captain  Porter 
was  observing  the  effect  of  the  fire  and  giving  new  directions  re- 
specting the  elevations,  the  length  of  fuse,  and  the  weight  of  the 
charge  of  powder.  The  calculations  were  made  with  such  nicety 
that  the  changes  in  the  weight  of  the  charge  were  made  by  single 
ounces,  when  the  whole  charge  was  nearly  twenty  pounds.  The 
enemy,  too,  fired  slowly  and  badly  during  the  first  half-hour.  By 
ten  o'clock,  however,  both  sides  had  ceased  to  experiment,  and  had 
begun  to  work. 

The  scene  at  this  time  was  in  the  highest  degree  exciting  and 
picturesque.  The  rigging  of  the  Union  fleet,  just  below  the  mortar- 
vessels,  was  filled  with  spectators,  from  rail  to  mast-head,  who 
watched  with  breathless  eagerness  the  rise  and  descent  of  every 
shell,  and  burst  into  the  heartiest  cheers  when  a  good  shot  was 
made.  Four  or  five  of  the  gun-boats  were  moving  about  in  the 
middle  of  the  river,  between  the  two  divisions  of  mortars,  keep- 
ing up  a  vigorous  fire  upon  the  nearer  batteries.  Both  forts  were 
firing  steadily  and  well,  their  shots  splashing  water  over  the  mor- 
tar-vessels on  the  eastern  side,  and  throwing  up  the  soft  soil  of 
the  bank  high  over  the  masts  of  those  on  the  western.  It  is  won- 
derful how  many  splendid  shots  may  be  made  at  a  distant  object 
without  one  hitting  it.  The  balls  fell  all  around  the  mortar-boats 
all  day,  and  only  two  of  them  were  struck,  and  they  not  seriously 


IOBTS 
an  the  lower 

MISSISSIPPI 

.     and  the  position    of 
N  &  MORTAR  BOATS 


FORT 

JACKSON 


Space,  cleared  hjJtebeLb 
in  order -to  get  iwjobstnuctecLS 
range  upon  approaching  rvyidtr 


BATTE  RY 


REDUCTION   OF   THE   FOKTS.  231 

injured.  Not  a  man  was  hurt  in  the  mortar-fleet  the  first  day,  ex- 
cept those  who  were  sickened  by  the  tremendous  concussion  which 
followed  every  discharge.  The  men  stood  on  tip-toe  and  with  open 
mouths  to  lessen  the.  effect  of  the  stunning  sound.  But  men  can 
get  used  to  anything.  They  came,  at  length,  to  be  able  to  sleep 
upon  the  deck  of  the  mortar-boats,  while  the  bombs  were  going  off 
at  the  rate  of  two  in  a  minute.  It  was  exhausting  work  handling 
those  huge  globes  of  iron ;  and  the  men,  too  tired  to  go  below, 
would  lie  down  along  the  forecastle,  fall  instantly  asleep,  and  never 
stir  till  they  were  called  to  duty  again. 

Men  can  bear  what  no  other  creatures  can.  As  the  firing  grew 
hotter,  the  very  bees  in  the  woods  could  not  endure  it,  but  came  in 
swarms  over  the  river,  and  buzzed  about  the  ears  of  the  men  in  the 
rigging  of  the  fleet.  It  was  too  much  even  for  the  fish  in  the 
river ;  large  quantities  of  dead  fish  floated  past,  killed  by  the  close 
thunder  of  the  guns.  Those  who  looked  over  the  side  at  this  new 
wonder  did  not  see  any  of  those  sealed  bottles  of  news  go  bobbing 
by,  which  the  Union  men  in  the  forts  afterward  said  they  had  sent 
down  the  river. 

When  the  fire  had  lasted  an  hour  and  a  half,  the  scene  was  en- 
livened by  a  new  feature.  "  Over  the  woods,  beyond  the  forts," 
says  a  highly  competent  witness,  "  we  can  count  seven  or  eight 
moving  columns  of  smoke,  which  indicate  that  the  rebel  steamers 
are  passing  about,  probably  plotting  some  mischief  against  us. 
Soon  one,  and  then  another,  and  afterward  a  third,  appear  in  view, 
steering  toward  the  forts.  Before  reaching  them,  however,  the 
steamers  dash  to  cover  again,  and  we  see  that  three  huge  burning 
rafts  have  been  set  adrift.  The  swift  current  sweeps  them  toward 
us ;  below  they  are  a  brilliant  blaze,  and  rising  from  the  flames  is  a 
spiral,  funnel-shaped  cloud  of  grayish  black  smoke,  so  dense  as  to 
shut  from  sight  the  fort  and  all  else  in  that  direction.  Nearer  and 
nearer  these  seemingly  formidable  rafts  approach,  but  they  occasion 
very  little  anxiety.  We  know  how  to  dispose  of  them.  The  sail- 
ors from  the  large  ships  are  called  out  of  the  rigging,  which  they 
have  been  permitted  to  occupy  as  interested  spectators  of  the  bat- 
tle, and  in  a  short  time  boats  have  the  rafts  in  tow,  and  they  are 
landed  on  the  river  bank  to  burn  away.  We  all  confess  to  an  ad- 
miration of  these  pyrotechnic  displays.  They  add  vastly  to  the 
picturesqueness  of  our  surroundings,  and  are  perfectly  harmless. 


232  REDUCTION"    OF  THE   FOPwTS. 

The  brave  fellows  on  the  schooners  did  not  relax  their  fire  during 
this  exciting  interlude."* 

The  day  wore  on.  Noon  came  and  passed.  The  charm  of  nov- 
elty subsided.  At  four,  General  Butler's  little  steamer,  Saxon, 
arrived,  with  the  news  that  the  general  and  his  troops  were  below, 
and  ready,  and  that  the  Monitor  bad  sunk  the  Merrimac.  Captain 
Farragut  telegraphed  the  tidings  to  the  fleet.  It  had  a  wonderfully 
inspiriting  effect. 

An  hour  later,  the  fleet  was  further  cheered  by  witnessing  an  in- 
dication that  the  fire  had  not  been  ineffectual.  Flames  were  seen 
bursting  from  Fort  Jackson,  and  the  fire  of  its  guns  slackened.  It 
soon  became  evident  that  the  citadel  and  the  wooden  barracks 
within  the  fort  were  on  fire,  as  the  barracks  of  Fort  Sumter  had 
been  when  it  was  defended  by  Major  Anderson.  Both  forts  ceased 
firing,  and  all  the  evening,  till  two  o'clock  the  next  morning,  a  mag- 
nificent conflagration  illumined  the  scene.  At  half-past  six,  Captain 
Porter  gave  the  signal  to  cease  firing,  and  the  night  passed  in  si- 
lence. After  dark,  he  withdrew  the  six  schooners  from  their  ex- 
posed situation  on  the  eastern  shore,  and  stationed  them  in  the  line 
upon  the  western  side  of  the  river.  This  appears  to  have  been  an 
excess  of  caution,  for  the  most  effective  shots  made  during  the  bom- 
bardment came  from  that  division,  and  none  of  the  vessels  had  been 
disabled.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  bombardment  might  have 
silenced  the  fort,  if  that  division  had  been  doubled  instead  of  re- 
moved. Its  transfer  to  the  shelter  of  the  forest  on  the  western 
shore,  was  a  great  relief  to  the  enemy. 

The  next  morning  disappointed  those  who  had  indulged  hopes 
from  the  burning  of  the  wooden  barracks.  Fort  Jackson  was 
prompt  and  vigorous  in  responding  to  the  fire  of  the  mortars.  At 
half-past  eleven,  a  rifle-ball  crushed  completely  through  one  of  the 
bomb-schooners,  and  sunk  her  in  twenty  minutes,  but  harming  no 
man.  The  Oneida,  Captain  Lee,  was  twice  hit  in  the  afternoon,  as 
she  Was  steaming  about  in  advance ;  two  gun-carriages  were  knocked 
to  pieces,  and  nine  men  wounded.  The  fort,  too,  suffered  so  much, 
that  its  fire  sensibly  slackened  long  before  the  day  closed.  One 
shell  bursting  in  the  levee  had  flooded  the  interior  of  the  fort  with 
water.  Another  broke  into  the  officers'  mess-room  while  they  were 
at  dinner,  and  the  ugly  thing  lay  smoking  on  the  ground  between 

*  Nemo  York  Times,  May  8th,  1862. 


REDUCTION    OF    THE    FOETS.  233 

them  and  the  only  door.  They  sprang  away  from  it  into  the  far- 
thest corner  of  the  apartment,  and  remained  clutched  together  in 
awful  suspense  for  half  a  minute,  when  the  fuse  went  out  without 
exploding  the  shell.  Often,  when  a  shell  sank  twenty  feet  into  the 
miry  delta  near  the  walls,  and  exploding  there,  threw  a  whole 
eruption  of  black  mud  into  the  air,  the  fort  seemed  to  shake  to  its 
foundations,  and  to  threaten  the  total  submersion  of  the  garrison 
deep  in  the  black  bowels  of  the  earth.  The  men,  however,  were 
surprisingly  cool  after  the  first  day.  They  discovered  that  the 
bombs  were  terrible  chiefly  to  the  nerves  and  the  imagination; 
they  could  see  them  coming  and  get  out  of  the  way ;  and  beyond 
dismounting  a  gun  now  and  then,  the  shells  did  no  essential  harm — 
no  harm  which  impaired  the  defensive  power  of  the  fort.  The  soft 
earth  of  the  delta  is  easily  stirred  and  shaken ;  but  of  all  known 
substances  it  offers  to  cannon-balls  the  most  completely  baffling  re- 
sistance. The  fire  of  the  fort  often  slackened  and  occasionally 
ceased ;  but  it  was  only  to  repair  damages,  which,  however  serious 
they  may  have  seemed,  were,  in  reality,  not  considerable. 

General  Butler  and  his  staff  arrived  in  the  afternoon,  and  had 
hospitable  welcome  on  board  the  flag-ship  Hartford.  He  found 
that  the  faith  of  the  naval  men  in  the  efficiency  of  the  bombs  had 
ebbed  away  under  the  monotony  of  the  ineffectual  fire  of  two  days. 
The  cable  was  looming  up,  as  the  ruling  topic  of  conversation. 
The  cable  must  be  cut;  how  shall  we  cut  .the  cable?  After 
dark  the  general  and  some  members  of  his  staff  went  up  the 
river  in  a  small  boat,  to  take  a  look  at  this  inconvenient  barrier. 
They  satisfied  an  enlightened  curiosity  without  molestation  from 
the  enemy;  but  on  returning  were  fired  upon  by  one  of  the 
mortar-boats,  and  narrowly  escaped  being  hit.  The  cable  did 
not  strike  these  Yankees  as  being  an  obstacle  absolutely  insur- 
mountable. 

All  night,  at  long  intervals,  the  mortars  played  upon  the  fort, 
each  of  the  three  divisions  taking  the  duty  in  turn.  A  deserter, 
a  Dan  Rice  circus  performer  from  Pennsylvania,  made  his  way 
through  the  swamps  from  Fort  Jackson  to  the  fleet,  lighted  and 
guided  by  the  fire  of  the  mortars,  often  floundering  in  mire  up  to 
his  arm-pits.  He  could  only  tell  that  the  fort  was  well  battered  by 
the  bombs.  He  escaped  in  the  confusion  caused  by  the  explosion 
of  a  shell  in  alarming  proximity  to  the  magazine. 


234  REDUCTION   OF   THE    FORTS. 

The  third  day  of  the  bombardment  presented  no  new  incident  to 
the  outside  spectator.  The  mortar-men  were  beginning  to  grumble 
at  the  inaction  of  the  statelier  vessels  of  the  fleet,  and  the  officers 
commanding  those  vessels  were  arriving  at  the  conclusion,  that  the 
work  of  reducing  the  fort  would,  after  all,  devolve  upon  them.  A 
council  of  captains  was  held  in  the  cabin  of  the  Hartford.  The  pre- 
vailing opinion  was,  that  the  mortar  experiment  should  be  fully 
tried,  and  then  the  running-by  attempted.  Captain  Farragut  issued, 
in  the  course  of  the  day,  the  following  order : 

"  The  flag-officer,  having  heard  all  the  opinions  expressed  by  the 
different  commanders,  is  of  the  opinion  that  whatever  is  to  be  done 
will  have  to  be  done  quickly,  or  we  will  again  be  reduced  to  a 
blockading  squadron,  without  the  means  of  carrying  on  the  bom- 
bardment, as  we  have  nearly  expended  all  the  shells  and  fuses  and 
material  for  making  cartridges.  He  has  always  entertained  the  same 
opinions  which  are  expressed  by  Commodore  Porter — that  is,  that 
there  are  three  modes  of  attack,  and  the  question  is,  which  is  the 
one  to  be  adopted  ?  His  own  opinion  is  that  a  combination  of  two 
should  be  made,  viz. :  The  forts  should  be  run,  and  when  a  force  is 
once  above  the  forts  to  protect  the  troops,  they  should  be  landed 
at  quarantine  from  the  gull  side,  by  bringing  them  through  the 
bayou ;  and  then  our  forces  should  move  up  the  river,  mutually 
aiding  each  other,  as  it  can  be  done  to  advantage. 

"  When,  in  the  opinion  of  the  flag-officer,  the  propitious  time  has 
arrived,  the  signal  will  be  made  to  weigh  and  advance  to  the  con- 
flict. If,  in  his  opinion,  at  the  time  of  arriving  at  the  respective 
positions  of  the  different  divisions  of  the  fleet,  we  have  the  advan- 
tage, he  will  make  the  signal  for  'close  action,'  and  abide  the 
result,  conquer  or  to  be  conquered,  drop  anchor  or  keep  under 
weigh  as,  in  his  opinion,  is  best.  Unless  the  signal  above  men- 
tioned is  made,  it  will  be  understood  that  the  first  order  of  sail- 
ing will  be  formed  after  leaving  Fort  St.  Philip,  and  we  will  pro- 
ceed up  the  river   in   accordance   with   the  original   opinion   ex- 


But  first,  the  cable  must  be  cut.  It  was  resolved  to  attempt  it 
that  very  evening.  Petards  had  been  brought  from  the  north  for 
the  purpose  of  blowing  up  the  hulks  which  supported  it,  and  Mr. 
Kroehl,  the  inventor  of  the  contrivance,  was  on  board  the  fleet  to 
superintend  the  operation.     The  plan  was  to  throw  a  petard  on 


REDUCTION    OF   THE    FOETS.  235 

board  one  of  the  hulks,  and  discharge  it  by  an  electric  spark  sent 
along  a  wire  from  a  gun-boat.  Captain  Bell  was  detached  to  con- 
duct the  daring  and  difficult  enterprise.  Two  of  the  gun-boats,  the 
Pinola  and  the  Itasca,  were  placed  under  his  command,  and  they 
were  to  be  supported  by  the  Iroquois,  the  Kennebec  and  the 
Winona. 

The  night  was  fortunately  dark  ;  but  the  current,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  recent  freshet,  ran  with  unwonted  velocity,  and  a  gale 
was  blowing  down  the  river.  At  ten,  the  Pinola  and  the  Itasca 
started  on  their  errand,  watched  as  they  passed  into  the  darkness 
beyond  the  flag-ship,  with  an  interest  which  no  language  can  de- 
scribe. The  success  of  the  expedition,  the  fate  of  New  Orleans, 
was  felt  to  depend  upon  that  night's  work.  When  the  two  vessels 
had  gone  beyond  the  line  of  mortar-schooners,  Captain  Porter 
opened  a  fire  upon  the  forts,  so  heavy,  so  continuous,  that  the 
previous  bombardment  seemed  mere  play  in  comparison  with  it. 
At  some  moments,  eight  shells  were  in  the  air  at  once,  eight  globes 
of  fire,  curving  magnificently  over  the  black  outline  of  the  forest. 
Amid  this  hurly-burly,  the  Pinola  ran  up  toward  the  cable,  near 
the  western  shore,  almost  under  the  guns  of  the  fort,  and  approach- 
ed one  of  the  hulks.  Mr.  Kroehl  was  ready  with  his  petard,  and 
threw  it  successfully  on  board.  But  as  the  engine  had  been  stopped 
at  the  same  moment,  the  wind  and  current  instantly  carried  the 
vessel  down  the  stream,  and  the  coil  of  wire  on  deck  ran  out  like 
the  cord  of  a  harpoon  when  the  whale  has  been  struck.  Before  the 
operator  could  discharge  the  spark,  the  wire  snapped,  and  the  at- 
tempt was  a  failure ;  the  Pinola  whirling  away  down  the  river  at 
a  prodigious  rate.  Such  was  the  force  of  the  gale  and  the  current, 
and  such  the  darkness  of  the  night,  that  it  was  half  an  hour  before 
the  vessel  was  again  under  command  with  her  bow  toward  the 
cable. 

The  Itasca,  meanwhile,  under  Captain  Caldwell,  had  tackled  the 
next  schooner,  one  near  the  middle  of  the  river.  The  Itasca  had  no 
petard ;  she  trusted  to  dexterous  hands  and  cold  steel.  Steaming 
up  close  to  the  hulk,  men  sprang  on  board,  lashed  the  gun-boat  se- 
curely to  her  side,  and  then  proceeded,  in  a  groping  way,  to  study 
the  arrangement  of  the  cable.  A  rocket  shot  into  the  air.  They 
were  discovered.  Both  forts  opened  fire;  but,  protected  by  the 
darkness  and  the  smoke,  the  gallant  men  of  the  Itasca  worked  in 


236  EEDTJCTION    OP   THE    FORTS. 

perfect  security,  not  a  shot  coming  near  enough  to  discompose 
them.  Half  an  hour  sufficed.  The  cable  was  severed  with  sledge 
and  chisel ;  the  anchors  of  the  hulks  were  slipped ;  and  instantly, 
gun-boat  and  hulk,  borne  away  by  wind  and  tide,  swung  round  to  the 
eastern  shore,  and  grounded  in  the  mud,  under  the  fire  of  both  forts. 
Luckily  the  hulk  had  the  inside  berth ;  still,  the  Itasca  was  hard 
and  fast  by  the  forefoot.  By  this  time,  however,  the  Pinola  was 
at  her  post  once  more,  and  came  to  the  assistance  of  her  consort. 
For  an  hour  or  more  she  tugged  to  get  her  afloat ;  parted  two  five- 
inch  hawsers  without  moving  her;  but  started  her  at  last  with 
one  of  eleven  inches ;  when  both  vessels  came  down  in  triumph 
without  a  scratch. 

The  success  of  the  enterprise  was  complete;  for  after  the  re- 
moval of  the  central  hulk,  the  current  caused  the  one  on  each  side 
of  the  aperture  to  swing  away,  so  as  to  make  an  opening  wide 
enough  to  admit  several  large  ships  abreast/  A  boat's  crew  of  the 
Itasca's  men  pulled  up  two  nights  after  into  the  opening,  sounded 
the  channel,  and  found  no  obstruction  whatever  to  the  ascent  of  the 
fleet.    Well  done,  Itasca ! 

The  last  cheers  died  away.  The  bombardment  subsided  to  its 
usual  nightly  average,  and  the  forts  were  silent.  The  moon  rose. 
At  two  o'clock  a  fire-raft  of  immense  extent  came  down  before  the 
north  wind  and  rushing  current,  blazing,  roaring,  cracking,  and 
rolling  aloft  the  densest  volumes  of  smoke.  It  passed  by  the  mor- 
tar-fleet, and  whirled  past  the  flag-ship,  only  fifty  feet  from  her  side, 
scorching  the  men  on  deck,  grazed  the  Scioto,  and  went  on  its  way 
toward  the  lower  divisions  of  the  fleet.  But  the  mortar-men  grap- 
pled the  monster  in  time,  towed  it  on  shore,  and  put  out  the  fire. 
There  was  little  sleep  in  the  fleet  that  night.  The  sleepy  but 
indomitable  reporter  of  the  Herald  was  obliged  to  fall  back  upon 
the  reflection,  that,  if  the  expedition  was  successful,  it  would  be  a 
fine  thing  to  talk  about  for  the  rest  of  his  mortal  life.  Meanwhile, 
the  work  was  rather  wearing  to  a  reporter,  dozing  within  a  few 
yards  of  a  bombarding  fleet,  and  having  to  tumble  up  every  few 
minutes  to  witness  spectacles  that  had  ceased  to  be  interesting.  Let 
us  gratefully  note  that  the  gentlemen  of  the  press,  connected  with 
the  fleet  and  the  army,  served  the  public  with  signal  fidelity.  It  is 
no  joke  to  prepare,  during  such  a  week  as  this,  in  such  circum- 
stances as  theirs,  a  mass  of  manuscript  equivalent  to  a  hundred 


REDUCTION   OF   THE   FORTS.  237 

pages  of  foolscap,  abounding  in  passages  highly  pictorial,  and  the 
whole  executed  with  an  evident  desire  to  tell  the  truth.  Would 
that  these  brave  and  laborious  public  servants  were  more  justly- 
rewarded. 

The  fourth  day  of  the  bombardment  passed  without  incident. 
Nearly  four  thousand  shells  had  been  fired,  and  still  the  forts 
replied  with  no  perceptible  diminution  of  vigor.  It  was  a  costly 
business,  this  bombardment ;  each  shell  costing  the  government  not 
far  from  fifty  dollars.  In  the  evening  the  enemy  appeared  to  be 
making  some  attempts  to  repair  the  cable,  but  the  fire  of  the  gun- 
boats in  advance  kept  them  from  effecting  their  purpose.  Another 
fire-raft  at  night  paled  its  ineffectual  fire  under  the  dexterous  hand- 
ling of  the  mortar-men. 

The  fifth  day  dawned — April  22d.  Captain  Farragut  had  in- 
tended that  this  should  be  the  last  of  the  bombardment ;  but  it 
chanced  that  two  of  the  gun-boats  had  been  so  much  injured  as  to 
require  the  assistance  of  all  the  carpenters  in  the  fleet.  He  deter- 
mined, therefore,  to  wait  another  day.  The  morning  of  the 
twenty-fourth,  between  midnight  and  daylight,  if  wind  and  weather 
were  not  too  perverse,  was  the  designated  time.  The  conduct  of 
the  enemy  showed,  what  their  officers  afterward  asserted,  that  they 
were  aware  of  this  determination  before  sunrise  on  the  morning  of 
the  23d. 

The  sixth  day,  the  forts  were  silent.  Not  one  gun  was  fired  by 
them  from  morning  till  night.  The  bombardment  was  languidly 
continued.  Green-horns  said  Fort  Jackson  had  been  evacuated. 
Others  thought  the  enemy  were  drawing  a  new  cable  across  the 
river  above  St.  Philip.  Men  at  the  mast-head  of  the  flag-ship 
reported  twelve  steamers  above  the  forts,  with  steam  up,  moving 
about  briskly.  Occasionally  one  of  these  came  down  to  the  old 
cable,  as  if  to  reconnoiter,  drew  the  fire  of  a  gun-boat,  and  away  up 
the  river  again.  No  inference  could  be  drawn  from  the  absence 
of  a  flag  from  Fort  Jackson,  for  it  had  hoisted  no  flag  after  the  first 
day.  Evidently  the  rebels  were  there — were  active;  but  what 
they  were  doing  could  only  be  guessed. 

We  now  knew  that  they  were  collecting  their  strength  for  the 
final  struggle,  in  perfect  confidence  of  victory.  The  general  com- 
manding in  New  Orleans  wrote  that  day  to  General  Duncan :  "Say 
to  your  officers  and  men  that  their  heroic  fortitude  in  enduring  one 


238  REDUCTION    OF   THE    FORTS. 

of  the  most  terrific  bombardments  ever  known,  and  the  courage 
which  they  have  evinced  will  surely  enable  them  to  crush  the 
enemy  whenever  he  dares  come  from  under  cover.  Their  gallant 
conduct  attracts  the  admiration  of  all,  and  will  be  recorded  in  his- 
tory as  splendid  examples  for  patriots  and  soldiers.  Anxious  but 
confident  families  and  friends  are  watching  them  with  firm  reliance, 
based  on  their  gallant  exhibition  thus  far  made  of  indomitable  cour- 
age and  great  military  skill.  The  enemy  will  try  your  powers  of 
endurance,  but  we  believe  with  no  better  success  than  already  ex- 
perienced." 

Duncan  reported :  "  Heavy  and  continued  bombardment  all 
night,  and  still  progressing.  No  further  casualties,  except  two  men 
slightly  wounded.  God  is  certainly  protecting  us.  We  are  still 
cheerful,  and  have  an  abiding  faith  in  our  ultimate  success.  We 
are  making  repairs  as  best  we  can.  Our  barbette  guns  are  still  in 
working  order.  Most  of  them  have  been  disabled  at  times.  The 
health  of  the  troops  continues  good.  Twenty-five  thousand  thir- 
teen-inch  shells  have  been  fired  by  the  enemy,  one  thousand  of 
which  fell  in  the  fort.  They  must  soon  exhaust  themselves ;  if  not, 
we  can  stand  as  long  as  they  can." 

Not  twenty-five  thousand  shells  :  five  thousand.  Not  a  thousand 
inside  the  fort :  only  three  hundred.  The  recreant  must  have  pur- 
posely exaggerated.  He  could  not  but  have  known  better.  The 
whole  number  of  shells  thrown  was  five  thousand  five  hundred  and 
thirty-two ;  and  when  Duncan  wrote,  the  grand,  final,  volcanic 
eruption  of  shells  had  not  taken  place. 

At  sunset,  on  the  evening  of  the  23d,  Captain  Farragut  had 
completed  his  arrangements  for  running  by.  The  fleet  was  in  five 
divisions.  The  mortar-boats  were  to  retain  the  position  they  had 
held  during  the  bombardment,  and  cover  the  attack  with  the  most 
rapid  fire  of  which  they  were  capable.  The  six  small  steamers 
attached  to  the  mortar-fleet — the  Harriet  Lane,  Westfield,  Owasca, 
Clifton,  Miami  and  Jackson,  the  last  named  towing  the  Ports- 
mouth— were  to  engage  the  water-battery  below  Fort  Jackson,  but 
not  attempt  to  pass  the  forts.  Captain  Farragut,  with  the  three 
largest  ships,  the  Hartford,  Richmond  and  Brooklyn,  were  to  ad- 
vance upon  Fort  Jackson.  Captain  Bailey,  second  in  command, 
with  the  Cayuga,  Pensacola,  Mississippi,  Oneida,  Varuna,  Katahdin, 
Kineo,  and  Wissahickon,  were  to  proceed  along  the  eastern  bank, 


REDUCTION    OF   THE    FORTS.  239 

and  close  with  Fort  St.  Philip.  Captain  Bell,  commanding  the 
third  division,  which  consisted  of  the  Scioto,  Iroquois,  Pinola, 
"Winona,  Itasca,  and  Kennebec,  was  to  advance  in  the  middle  of  the 
river,  and  push  on  to  the  attack  of  the  enemy's  fleet  above  the  forts. 
As  night  drew  on,  these  divisions  lay  in  their  proper  order,  ready 
for  the  signal. 

The  norther  had  died  away.  The  night  was  still,  and  a  very 
light  southerly  breeze  spread  a  haze  over  the  river.  The  occasional 
discharge  of  the  bombs,  like  minute-guns  over  the  dead,  seemed 
but  to  deepen  the  hush  and  awfulness  of  the  hour.  The  men  went 
early  to  their  hammocks,  and  the  officers  conversed  in  the  low  tone 
of  men  on  the  eve  of  battle.  Lieutenant  Weitzel  continued  to  im- 
part to  them  the  benefit  of  his  local  and  professional  knowledge. 
He  advised  them  to  run  in  as  close  as  possible  to  the  forts.  The 
tendency  of  all  men  in  battle,  he  said,  was  to  fire  too  high,  and  the 
gunners  of  the  forts  had  been  for  a  week  firing  as  high  as  the  guns 
could  be  elevated.  Besides,  they  would  naturally  expect  the  ships 
to  keep  at  a  distance,  and  would  aim  for  the  middle  of  the  river. 
The  ships,  too,  would  certainly  fire  over  those  low  forts,  unless  the 
oificers  took  particular  precautions  to  keep  the  guns  depressed. 
General  Butler,  Lieutenant  Weitzel,  and  the  rest  of  the  staff,  went 
on  board  the  Saxon,  leaving  the  naval  officers  to  their  repose. 
The  general  ordered  steam  to  be  kept  up  upon  the  little  steamer, 
that  he  might  be  in  instant  readiness  to  join  the  army  at  the  head 
of  the  passes,  if  the  fleet  should  pass  the  forts. 

Men  sleep  the  night  before  their  execution,  but  not  the  night  be- 
fore their  trial.  There  was  not  much  sleeping  achieved  in  the  fleet, 
though  the  stillness  of  death  pervaded  the  ships.  "  For  myself," 
said  a  reporter,  "  I  could  not  think  of  sleep,  because  of  my  anxiety 
for  the  success  of  the  momentous  undertaking  which  was  soon  to 
commence.  I  passed  the  slow  hours  in  gazing  at  the  dark  outlines 
of  the  vessels.  A  death-like  stillness  hung  over  every  ship,  unre- 
lieved by  the  faintest  glimmer  of  lamp-light.  There  were  no  warm 
colors  in  the  picture,  and  its  cold,  dreary  aspect,  was  suggestive  of 
any  but  pleasant  thoughts."* 

At  eleven,  a  signal  from  the  Itasca  announced  that  all  was  clear 
at  the  cable.  Note,  however,  that  the  hulks,  all  but  the  one  re- 
moved by  the  Itasca,  were  still  in  the  river.    The  opening  was 

*  Times. 


240  REDUCTION    OP   THE   FOETS. 

wide,  but,  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  the  hulks  might  prove 
troublesome,  especially  as  the  smoke  of  the  ascending  ships'  guns 
would  roll  over  them.  It  was  just  the  night  for  smoke  to  settle 
down,  and,  mingling  with  the  fog,  hang  in  an  impenetrable  mass 
over  the  river ;  for  the  breeze  was  of  the  lightest,  and  the  atmos- 
phere was  heavy.  In  every  respect,  the  night  was  favorable  for  an 
enterprise  which  darkness  alone  could  render  possible.  The  moon 
would  peep  over  the  horizon  at  three ;  but,  by  the  time  she  had 
risen  above  the  forest,  it  was  hoped  that  her  light  would  be  wel- 
come. 

At  one,  all  hands  were  called.  Hammocks  were  stowed.  The 
last  preparations  were  made.  The  low  hiss  of  steam  was  heard  at 
the  boilers.  At  two  o'clock,  the  signal  to  weigh  anchor  ascended 
to  the  peak  of  the  flag-ship.  "  I  had  the  honor,"  says  the  Herald 
correspondent,  "  to  hoist  the  signal  with  my  own  hands."  He  did 
himself  the  honor  also  to  run  by  with  the  ship — he  and  the  artist 
of  Harper's  Weekly — gallant  fellows  both. 

Captain  Farragut's  division,  close  in  to  the  western  bank,  was 
ready  to  move  at  half-past  two ;  but  Captain  Bailey,  on  the  eastern 
shore,  with  a  more  numerous  division,  was  a  little  slower,  and  had 
some  distance  to  go  before  getting  abreast  of  Captain  Farragut. 
At  half-past  three,  the  moon  slanting  a  beam  upon  the  swift  river, 
the  night  still  hazy,  the  ships  began  their  simultaneous  and  si- 
lent advance.  During  the  first  few  minutes,  the  very  mortars 
held  their  breath.  In  the  distance,  away  up  near  the  forts,  fires 
could  be  seen,  perhaps  to  light  the  ships  to  their  destruction. 
The  fleet  advanced  against  the  stream  not  faster  than  four  miles 
an  hour.  The  distance  from  the  starting-place  to  a  point  above 
the  forts  beyond  the  reach  of  their  guns,  was  about  five  miles — two 
miles  to  the  forts,  one  mile  under  their  guns,  two  miles  to  perfect 
safety. 

The  mortars  spoke.  Everything  had  been  prepared  for  the  rap- 
idest  fire  possible ;  and  the  men  surpassed  all  their  previous  exer- 
tions. Never  less  than  five  of  those  tremendous  shells  were  in  the 
air  at  the  same  moment ;  often  seven  or  eight ;  sometimes,  as  many 
as  eleven.  The  thunder,  the  roar,  the  crash,  the  smoke,  the  glow- 
ing bombs  circling  over  the  woods  on  the  western  bank — this  was 
the  mighty  prelude  to  the  opening  scene. 

The  fleet  advanced  in  the  appointed  three  lines,  one  ship  close 


SEDUCTION   OF   THE   FOBTS.  241 

behind  the  other.  Captain  Bailey,  on  the  eastern  side,  canght  the 
first  fire.  His  Cayuga  had  just  passed  through  the  opening  in  the 
cable,  when  both  forts  discovered  him,  and  opened  upon  him  with 
every  available  gun.  The  balls  flew  around  the  ship ;  but  the  firing 
was  much  too  high,  and  he  was  seldom  hulled.  As  yet,  the  Cayuga 
was  silent,  and  the  rebel  gunners,  as  they  afterward  said,  could 
see  nothing  whatever ;  they  averred  that  they  aimed  no  gun  that 
morning  at  an  object,  except  when  the  flash  of  Union  guns  gave 
them  a  momentary  delusive  target.  Captain  Bailey's  division 
steamed  on  three-quarters  of  a  mile  under  this  fire,  without  firing 
a  shot  in  reply,  guided  on  the  way  by  the  flashes  of  St.  Philip. 
Running  in,  at  length,  close  under  the  fort,  he  gave  them  broad- 
sides of  grape  and  canister  as  he  passed.  The  Pensacola,  the  Mis- 
sissippi, the  Varuna  and  the  rest  of  the  division  followed  close  be- 
hind, each  delivering  broadsides  of  small  shot,  and  keeping  steadily 
on  in  the  wake  of  the  Cayuga.  All  of  the  division  passed  the  forts 
with  little  material  damage,  except  the  sailing  Portsmouth,  which 
could  only  get  up  near  enough  to  fire  one  broadside,  and  then,  los- 
ing her  tow,  became  unmanageable  and  drifted  away  down  the 
river. 

The  middle  division,  under  Captain  Bell,  was  less  fortunate,  be- 
cause it  was  the  middle  division.  Half  of  Captain  Bell's  ships,  the 
Scioto,  the  Iroquois,  and  the  Pinola,  went  handsomely  by,  under 
the  most  tremendous  fire;  but  the  gallant  Itasca,  when  directly 
opposite  St.  Philip,  received  a  cataract  of  shot,  one  of  which  pierced 
her  boiler,  and  she  dropped  helpless  down  the  river.  The  Winona 
recoiled  from  the  same  annihilating  fire,  and  retired.  The  Kenne- 
bec was  caught  in  the  cable,  and  when  disentangled,  lost  her  way 
in  the  Stygian  blackness  of  the  smoke,  and  returned  to  her  anchor- 
age unharmed. 

Captain  Farragut,  meanwhile,  was  having,  to  use  his  own  lan- 
guage, "  a  rough  time  of  it."  The  Hartford  advanced  to  within  a 
mile  and  a  quarter  of  Fort  Jackson  before  receiving  the  attentions 
of  the  foe — Captain  Farragut,  in  the  fore-rigging,  peering  into  the 
night  with  his  glass — all  silent  below  and  aloft.  Then  the  fort 
opened  upon  the  ship  a  fire  that  was  better  aimed  than  that  which 
had  saluted  Captain  Bailey.  The  ship  was  repeatedly  struck. 
Captain  Farragut,  anticipating  the  situation,  had  taken  the  precau- 
tion to  mount  two  guns  upon  the  forecastle,  with  which  he  now 


242  REDUCTION    OF   THE    FORTS. 

replied  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  still  steaming  directly  for  the  fort. 
At  the  distance  of  half  a  mile,  says  the  captain,  "  we  sheered  off 
and  gave  them  such  a  fire  as  they  never  dreamed  of  in  their  philos- 
ophy." Broadsides  of  grape  and  canister  drove  every  man  in  the 
fort  under  cover ;  but  the  casemate  guns  were  in  full  play,  and  the 
Hartford  was  well  peppered.  The  Richmond  quickly  followed,  and 
deluged  the  fort  with  grape  and  canister.  The  Brooklyn,  the  last 
ship  of  this  division,  had  the  ill  luck  to  be  caught  by  one  of  the 
cable  hulks,  and  so  lagged  behind.  How  nobly  she  redeemed  her- 
self, let  Captain  Craven  relate : 

"  I  extricated  my  ship  from  the  rafts,  her  head  was  turned  up 
stream,  and  a  few  minutes  thereafter  she  was  fully  butted  by  the 
celebrated  ram  Manassas.  She  came  butting  into  our  starboard 
gangway,  first  firing  from  her  trap-door  when  within  about  ten  feet 
of  the  ship,  directly  toward  our  smoke-stack — her  shot  entering 
about  five  feet  above  the  water-line,  and  lodging  in  the  sand-bags 
which  protected  our  steam-drum.  I  had  discovered  this  queer- 
looking  gentleman  while  forcing  my  way  over  the  barricade  lying 
close  in  to  the  bank,  and  when  he  made  his  appearance  the  second 
time,  I  was  so  close  to  him  that  he  had  not  an  opportunity  to  get 
up  his  full  speed,  and  his  efforts  to  damage  me  were  completely 
frustrated,  our  chain-armor  proving  a  perfect  protection  to  our  sides. 
He  soon  slid  off  and  disappeared  in  the  darkness. 

"  A  few  minutes  thereafter,  being  all  this  while  under  a  raking 
fire  from  Fort  Jackson,  I  was  attacked  by  a  large  rebel  steamer. 
Our  port  broadside,  at  the  short  distance  of  only  fifty  or  sixty  yards, 
completely  finished  him,  setting  him  on  fire  almost  instantaneously. 

"  Still  groping  my  way  in  the  dark,  or  under  the  black  cloud  of 
smoke  from  the  fire-raft,  I  suddenly  found  myself  abreast  of  St. 
Philip,  and  so  close  that  the  leadsman  in  the  starboard  chains  gave 
the  soundings  '  thirteen  feet,  sir.'  As  we  could  bring  all  our 
guns  to  bear  for  a  few  brief  moments,  we  poured  in  grape  and 
canister,  and  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  completely  silencing  that 
work  before  I  left  it,  my  men  in  the  tops  witnessing,  in  the  flashes 
of  their  bursting  shrapnel,  the  enemy  running  like  sheep  for  more 
comfortable  quarters." 

Quartermaster  James  Beck,  he  adds,  stood  by  the  wheel  seven 
hours  after  receiving  a  severe  contusion,  and  would  not  leave  his 
post  till  positively  ordered. 


REDUCTION   OF   THE   FOETS.  243 

Most  of  the  ships  had  run  by,  and  Captain  Farragut,  having 
escaped  Fort  Jackson,  was  advancing  toward  the  other  fort,  when 
a  new  enemy  appeared — the  fleet  of  rebel  gun-boats,  lying  in  order 
of  battle  just  above  St.  Philip.  Captain  Bailey,  still  leading  the 
advance  in  the  Cayuga,  was  in  the  very  midst  of  them  before  he 
was  aware  of  their  presence ;  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  so  far  as 
he  could  see,  he  was  alone.  It  was  a  moment  of  anxiety.  The 
rebel  steamers  ran  at  him,  full  tilt ;  but  by  skillful  steering  he  con- 
trived to  avoid  their  blows,  and  pouring  eleven-inch  solid  shot  into 
them,  reduced  three  to  surrender  before  the  other  ships  of  his 
division  came  up.  "  The  Varuna  and  Oneida  came  dashing  in," 
says  Captain  Bailey,  "  and  soon  made  a  finish  of  them ;"  but  not 
until  the  Varuna  had  gone  down  in  glory  to  the  bottom  of  the 
river,  firing  as  she  sank. 

"After  passing  the  batteries  with  the  Varuna,"  says  Captain 
Boggs,  "  finding  my  vessel  amid  a  nest  of  rebel  steamers,  I  started 
ahead,  delivering  her  fire,  both  starboard  and  port,  at  every  one 
that  she  passed.  The  first  vessel  on  her  starboard  beam  that  re- 
ceived her  fire  appeared  to  be  crowded  with  troops.  Her  boiler 
was  exploded,  and  she  drifted  to  the  shore.  In  like  manner  three 
other  vessels,  one  of  them  a  gun-boat,  were  driven  ashore  in  flames, 
and  afterward  blew  up.  *  *  *  The  Varuna  was  attacked  by 
the  Morgan,  iron-clad  about  the  bow,  commanded  by  Beverly 
Kennon,  an  ex-naval  officer.  This  vessel  raked  us  along  the  port 
gangway,  killing  four  and  wounding  nine  of  the  crew,  butting  the 
Varuna  on  the  quarter  and  again  on  the  starboard  side.  I  man- 
aged to  get  three  eight-inch  shells  into  her  abaft  her  armor,  as  also 
several  shot  from  the  after  rifled  gun,  when  she  dropped  out  of 
action  partially  disabled. 

"  While  still  engaged  with  her,  another  rebel  steamer,  iron-clad, 
with  a  prow  under  water,  struck  us  in  the  port  gangway,  doing 
considerable  damage.  Our  shot  glanced  from  her  bow.  She 
backed  off  for  another  blow,  and  struck  again  in  the  same  place, 
crushing  in  the  side;  but,  by  going  ahead  fast,  the  concussion 
drew  her  bow  around,  and  I  was  able  with  the  port  guns  to  give 
her,  while  close  alongside,  five  eight-inch  shells  abaft  her  armor. 
This  settled  her,  and  drove  her  ashore  in  flames. 

"  Finding  the  Varuna  sinking,  I  ran  her  into  the  bank,  let  go 
the  anchor,  and  tied  up  to  the  trees. 
11 


244  REDUCTION   OP   THE   FORTS. 

"  During  all  this  time  our  guns  were  actively  at  work  crippling 
the  Morgan,  which  was  making  feeble  efforts  to  get  up  steam. 
The  fire  was  kept  up  until  the  water  was  over  the  gun-truck,  when 
I  turned  my  attention  to  getting  the  wounded  and  crew  out  of  the 
vessel.  The  Oneida,  Captain  Lee,  seeing  the  condition  of  the 
Varuna,  had  rushed  to  her  assistance,  but  I  waved  her  on,  and  the 
Morgan  surrendered  to  her,  the  vessel  being  in  flames.  I  have 
since  learned  that  over  fifty  of  her  crew  were  killed  and  wounded, 
and  she  was  set  on  fire  by  her  commander,  who  burnt  his  wounded 
with  his  vessel." 

Thus,  six  of  the  enemy's  fleet  fell  under  the  Varuna's  fire  before 
she  sank,  with  colors  flying,  to  the  river's  bed. 

While  Captain  Farragut  was  still  battling  with  the  forts,  pour- 
ing broadsides  into  St.  Philip,  and  receiving  the  fire  of  both,  a  huge 
fire-raft  suddenly  blazed  up  before  him,  revealing  the  ram  Manassas 
pushing  the  raft  upon  the  Hartford.  In  attempting  to  steer  clear 
of  the  raft,  the  Hartford  ran  upon  the  bank,  when  the  raft  came 
crashing  alongside.  "  In  a  moment,"  says  Captain  Farragut,  "  the 
ship  was  one  blaze  all  along  the  port  side,  half-way  up  to  the  main 
and  mizzen  tops.  But,  thanks  to  the  good  organization  of  the  fire 
department  by  Lieutenant  Thornton,  the  flames  were  extinguished 
and  at  the  same  time  we  backed  off  and  got  clear  of  the  raft.  But 
all  this  time  we  were  pouring  the  shells  into  the  forts,  and  they 
into  us,  and  every  now  and  then  a  rebel  steamer  would  get  under 
our  fire  and  receive  our  salutation  of  a  broadside.  At  length  the 
fire  slackened,  the  smoke  cleared  off,  and  wre  saw  to  our  surprise 
that  we  were  above  the  forts,  and  here  and  there  a  rebel  gun-boat 
on  fire.  As  we  came  up  with  them,  trying  to  make  their  escape, 
they  were  fired  into  and  riddled,  so  that  they  ran  them  on  shore ; 
and  all  who  could  made  their  escape  to  the  shore.  The  Missis- 
sippi and  the  Manassas  made  a  set  at  each  other  at  full  speed,  and 
when  they  were  within  forty  yards,  the  ram  dodged  the  Mississippi 
and  ran  on  shore,  when  the  latter  poured  her  broadside  into  her, 
knocked  away  her  smoke-stack,  and  then  sent  men  on  board  of  her ; 
but  she  was  deserted  and  riddled,  and  after  a  while  she  drifted 
down  the  stream  full  of  water.  She  was  the  last  of  the  eleven 
we  destroyed." 

In  the  hurly-burly,  Captain  Farragut  was  struck  by  tho  wind  of 
a  passing  shot,  as  he  sat  in  the  fore-rigging.     Our  friend  of  the 


REDUCTION    OF   THE   FOETS.  245 

Jlerald  mentions  that  a  shot,  at  the  same  time,  knocked  his  cabin 
to  pieces,  shattered  his  effects,  and  nearly  carried  off  the  toilfully 
prepared  manuscript  of  the  bombardment. 

The  scene  when  the  fire  caught  the  flag-ship,  which  was  the 
crowning  moment  of  the  battle,  is  wholly  beyond  the  imagination 
to  conceive ;  much  more  beyond  the  power  of  words  to  describe. 
I  shall  not  attempt  the  impossible.  The  mere  noise  was  an  expe- 
rience unique  to  the  oldest  officers : — Twenty  mortars,  a  hundred 
and  forty-two  guns  in  the  fleet,  a  hundred  and  twenty  on  the  forts ; 
the  crash  of  splinters,  the  explosions  of  boilers  and  magazines ; 
the  shouts,  the  cries,  the  shrieks  of  scalded  and  drowning  men. 
Add  to  this  the  belching  flashes  of  the  guns,  the  blazing  raft,  the 
burning  steamboats,  the  river  full  of  fire.  The  confined  space  in 
which  the  action  was  fought  is  to  be  also  considered ;  and,  con- 
fined as  it  was,  each  ship  was  fighting  its  own  battle,  ignorant  of 
nearly  all  that  passed  beyond  its  own  guns.  "  The  river,"  says 
Captain  Farragut,  "  was  too  narrow  for  more  than  two  or  three 
vessels  to  act  to  advantage,  but  all  were  so  anxious,  that  my  great- 
est fear  was  that  we  would  fire  into  each  other,  and  Captain  Wain- 
wright  and  myself  were  hollowing  ourselves  hoarse  at  the  men  not 
to  fire  into  our  ships."  The  time,  too,  was  wonderfully  short.  The 
forts  were  passed,  and  the  enemy's  fleet  destroyed  in  an  hour  and 
a  half  after  the  ships  had  left  their  anchorage. 

The  Cayuga  had  been  struck  forty-two  times  in  the  melee,  to  the 
great  damage  of  masts  and  rigging.  But  Captain  Bailey,  keeping 
on  up  the  river,  descried,  in  the  gray  light  of  the  dawn,  a  camp 
upon  the  shore  at  the  quarantine  station,  five  miles  above  the  forts, 
the  rebel  soldiers  in  full  flight.  The  flight  was  promptly  arrested, 
and  the  officers  surrendered  the  position.  The  fleet  came  up,  ship 
after  ship,  each  received  with  cheers,  each  responding  with  cheers, 
as  she  dropped  her  anchor  in  line  along  the  shore.  The  dead,  thirty 
in  number,  were  buried.  The  wounded,  of  whom  there  were  a  hun- 
dred and  nineteen,  were  duly  cared  for.  Repairs  were  made,  and 
the  rigging  was  spliced ;  for  Captain  Farragut  was  going  on  in 
quest  of  other  batteries  that  still  blocked  the  way.  Captain  Boggs, 
hailed  by  his  generous  comrades  the  hero  of  the  morning,  being 
without  a  ship,  undertook  to  convey  a  dispatch  round  to  General 
Butler  in  an  open  boat  through  a  tortuous  bayou.  Two  gun-boats 
were  detailed  to  remain  at  the  quarantine  station  and  co-operate 


246  REDUCTION    OF   THE    FOTiTS. 

with,  the  troops  in  the  contemplated  landing  behind  Fort  St.  Philip. 
At  eleven  in  the  morning,  Captain  Farragut  gave  the  signal,  and 
the  fleet  stood  np  the  river — so  slight  was  the  damage  received  in 
the  action.  Except  the  Itasca  and  the  Yaruna,  no  vessel  had  re- 
ceived sufficient  injury  to  seriously  impair  her  effective  force — an 
escape  that  was  wholly  due  to  the  darkness  of  the  night.  In  day- 
light no  wooden  ship  could  have  passed  those  forts  ;  nor  could  iron- 
clads, if  the  forts  had  mounted  such  guns  as  the  rebels  now  have  at 
Charleston. 

Of  those  who  witnessed  the  scenes  of  this  memorable  morning, 
none  looked  on  with  an  interest  so  absorbing  and  profound  as  Gen- 
eral Butler  and  a  group  of  his  staff  officers — Major  Strong,  Major 
Bell,  Lieutenant  Weitzel,  and  Lieutenant  Kinsman.  They  were 
on  board  the  Saxon,  which  followed  closely  in  the  rear  of  Captain 
Bailey's  division,  until  the  shells  from  the  forts,  splashing  in  the 
water  before  and  behind  the  little  vessel,  warned  the  general  that 
he  had  gone  far  enough.  "  We  forgot,"  says  Major  Bell,  "  that 
Porter's  twenty  mortar-boats  were  vomiting  from  beside  us  a  hor- 
rid discharge  of  shell ;  we  forgot  that  we  were  within  the  range 
of  the  enemy's  and  our  own  guns,  and  that  the  shells  of  both  were 
falling  about  us — such  was  the  fascination  which  lured  us  on  behind 
the  advancing  ships."  The  Saxon  had  eight  hundred  barrels  of 
powder  on  board — a  fact  of  which  her  captain  was  painfully  con- 
scious. He  was  a  happy  man  when  the  general  gave  the  word  to 
drop*  a  little  astern.  From  a  point  just  below  the  reach  of  the  guns, 
the  party  on  the  forecastle  of  the  Saxon  saw  the  fleet  vanish  into  the 
bend,  and  heard  the  tremendous  uproar  of  the  fire.  "  Combine,"  says 
Major  Bell,  "  all  you  have  ever  heard  of  thunder,  and  add  to  it  all 
you  have  ever  seen  of  lightning,  and  you  have,  perhaps,  a  concep- 
tion of  the  scene."  They  could  not  tell  what  was  happening,  nor 
who  was  winning.  Still  more  puzzled  were  they  when  the  fleet 
seemed  to  have  passed  the  forts,  and  the  cannonade,  which  had 
slackened,  broke  out  again  with  more  fury  than  before.  Then  the 
forts  were  illumined  with  fire.  Is  it  a  burning  ship  ?  "  No,"  said 
Lieutenant  Weitzel,  "  it  is  too  low  for  that."  Portions  of  the  burn- 
ing raft,  steamboats  burning  and  hissing  came  by,  the  river  at  times 
covered  with  fire.  The  vessels  that  failed  to  get  past  drifted  down, 
but  could  give  little  information  of  what  had  been  achieved. 

The  cannonade  subsided  at  length,  and  the  fiery  masses  disap- 


REDUCTION    OF   THE   FORTS.  247 

peared  from  the  river.  It  was  the  time  of  sunrise,  but  a  pall  of 
smoke  huv >g  over  land  and  water.  It  was  darker  than  midnight. 
A  breeze  sprang  up,  and  rolled  the  smoke  from  the  river.  Start- 
ling change !  In  three  minutes  the  sun  of  a  bright  April  morning 
shone  upon  the  scene.  There  lay  the  forts,  with  the  flag  of  seces- 
sion waving  from  both  flag-staffs,  hoisted  to  denote  that  they  were 
still  unsubdued.  But,  away  up  the  river,  beyond  the  forts,  could 
be  seen  the  top-masts  of  the  fleet,  dressed  in  the  stars  and  stripes ! 
Captain  Porter's  fleet  of  steamers  were  coming  rapidly  down  the 
river,  propelled  by  a  report  that  the  "  celebrated  ram  Manassas" 
was  after  them.  "  And  sure  enough,"  says  Captain  Porter,  "  there 
she  was,  apparently  steaming  along  shore,  ready  to  pounce  upon 
the  apparently  defenseless  mortar-vessels.  Two  of  our  steamers 
and  some  of  the  mortar-vessels  opened  fire  on  her,  but  I  soon  dis- 
covered that  the  Manassas  could  harm  no  one  again,  and  I  ordered 
the  vessels  to  save  their  shot.  She  was  beginning  to  emit  some 
smoke  from  her  ports  or  holes,  and  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire 
and  sinking.  Her  pipes  were  all  twisted  and  riddled  with  shot, 
and  her  hull  was  also  well  cut  up.  She  had  evidently  been  used 
up  by  the  squadron  as  they  passed  along.  I  tried  to  save  her,  as  a 
curiosity,  by  getting  a  hawser  around  her  and  securing  her  to  the 
bank ;  but  just  after  doing  so  she  faintly  exploded,  her  only  gun 
went  off,  and  emitting  flames  through  her  bow  port,  like  some  huge 
animal,  she  gave  a  plunge  and  disappeared  under  the  water.  Next 
came  a  steamer  on  fire,  which  appeared  to  be  a  vessel  of  war  be- 
longing to  the  rebels ;  and  after  her  two  others,  all  burning  and 
floating  down  the  stream." 

This  looked  like  victory.  But  was  it  a  victory  ?  The  rebel  flags 
waved  defiance  still ;  and  it  soon  appeared  that  three  of  the  ene- 
my's gun-boats  had  escaped  destruction,  one  of  which  was  the  pon- 
derous armed  dry-dock,  named  the  Louisiana.  True,  she  was  a 
phantom — a  useless,  lumbering,  unmanageable  hulk.  But  this  was 
not  suspected.  She  was  supposed  to  be  a  steam  battery  of  sixteen 
Merrimac  power,  capable  of  crushing  a  poor  little  row  of  mortar 
boats  with  one  graze  of  her  iron-clad  sides. 

About  seven  in  the  morning,  Captain  Porter  sent  a  gun-boat  to- 
ward the  forts,  with  a  flag  of  truce,  to  demand  their  surrender. 
Five  cannon-balls  from  one  of  them  (the  color  of  the  flag  not  hav- 
ing been  discerned),  gave  an  intimation  of  the  answer  that  might  bo 


248  BEDUCTION  OF  the  forts. 

expected.  The  gun-boat  retired,  followed  soon  by  a  rebel  officer 
with  apologies,  who  also  brought  a  reply  to  the  summons :  No 
surrender,  the  forts  will  never  surrender.  The  rebel  gun-boats 
hovered  about  above  the  cable,  drawing  renewal  of  fire  from  the 
mortar-vessels.  But  the  Louisiana !  Word  was  brought  by  a 
gun-boat,  which  had  given  the  rebel  messenger  a  friendly  tow  up 
the  stream,  that  Fort  Jackson  was  transferring  heavy  guns  to  the 
monster,  which,  it  was  thought,  would  soon  be  down  among  the 
residue  of  the  fleet.  Captain  Porter  ordered  the  mortar-vessels  to 
weigh  anchor  and  hasten  down  the  stream.  Towed  by  the  steam- 
ers belonging  to  them,  they  abandoned  the  vicinity  of  the  forts, 
leaving  the  enemy  to  repose,  and  proceeded  to  the  head  of  the 
passes.  Two  killed,  six  wounded,  one  vessel  sunk,  four  or  five 
slightly  injured,  were  the  losses  the  mortar-fleet  had  sustained  dur- 
ing the  bombardment. 

General  Butler,  perceiving  now  that  the  time  had  come  for  the 
army  to  play  its  part,  borrowed  a  light-draft  steamer  from  Captain 
Porter,  and  hastened  down  the  river  to  join  his  troops. 

During  the  next  three  days  the  forts  were  not  molested  and  fired 
not  a  gun.  Dismounted  guns  were  replaced,  some  repairs  were 
made,  and  the  garrisons  rested  from  their  labors ;  their  numbers 
little  diminished  by  the  week's  fire,  the  forts  as  strong  in  defensive 
power  as  when  the  bombardment  began.  Captain  Porter  in  his 
first  report  remarked:  "These  forts  can  hold  out  still  for  some 
time,  and  I  would  suggest  that  the  Monitor  and  Mystic,  if  they  can 
be  spared,  be  sent  here  without  a  moment's  delay,  to  settle  the 
question."  There  was  still  a  chance  then,  for  General  Butler  and 
his  impatient  troops,  who  had  been  lying  a  week  at  the  passes, 
hearing,  when  the  wind  blew  down  the  river,  the  distant  thunder 
of  the  bombardment. 

Up  anchor,  all  the  transport  steamers!  The  sailing  vessels  in 
tow  to  remain  in  the  river  under  General  Phelps.  General  Wil- 
liams to  command  the  troops  on  board  the  steamers. 

Sable  Island,  twelve  miles  in  the  rear  of  St.  Philip,  was  the  ren- 
dezvous. Twenty-four  hours  were  lost  by  the  grounding  of  the  bor- 
rowed Miami,  an  ex-ferry-boat,  drawing  seven  feet  and  a  half.  Cap- 
tain Boggs  reached  the  general  with  a  dispatch  from  Captain  Far- 
ragut,  having  been  twenty-six  hours  in  an  open  boat.  "We  had  a 
hot  time  of  it,"  wrote  the  flag-officer :  "  but  after  being  on  fire  and 


EEDUCTION   OF   THE   FOETS.  249 

run  at  by  the  ram,  and  attacked  by  forts  and  rebel  steamers,  we 
succeeded  in  getting  through,  taking  all  their  gun-boats  and  the 
ram  to  boot."  He  added  that  he  should  "  push  on"  to  New  Orleans, 
leaving  the  forts  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  general.* 

On  the  26th  of  April,  the  Twenty-sixth  Massachusetts  under  Col- 
onel Jones,  the  same  Colonel  Jones  that  led  the  Sixth  Massachu- 
setts through  Baltimore  on  the  19th  of  April,  1861,  was  crowded  on 
board  the  Miami,  with  companies  of  the  Fourth  Wisconsin  and 
Twenty-first  Indiana.  Cautiously  the  little  steamer  felt  her  way 
in  those  shallows ;  but  when  the  fort  was  still  six  miles  distant, 
she  grounded  again.  The  thirty  boats  were  manned  and  filled  with 
troops.  Guided  by  Lieutenant  Weitzel,  and  by  Captain  Everett 
of  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  battery,  who  had  been  out  reconnoiter- 
ing  there  during  the  bombardment,  the  boats  pulled  for  the  swampy 
shore.  The  bayous  empty  into  the  gulf  at  that  point  with  such  a 
rush  of  cross-currents,  that,  at  times,  it  was  all  the  boats  could  do 
to  hold  their  own.  Four  miles  and  a  half  of  fierce  rowing  brought 
them  into  Mannel's  canal,  which,  running  like  a  mill-race,  forbade 
farther  progress  by  rowing.  Soldiers  sprang  into  the  water — a 
line  of  soldiers  clutching  the  side  of  each  boat ;  and  floundering  thus 
breast-deep  in  water  and  mire,  and  phantom  sharks,  drew  the  boats 
by  main  force  a  mile  and  a  half,  to  a  landing  place  five  miles  above 
St.  Philip.  By  this  laborious  process  two  hundred  of  the  troops 
were  landed  from  the  Miami  in  the  course  of  the  day,  meeting  no 

*  Captain  Boggs  brought  a  characteristic  note  to  Captain  Porter  also : 

"Dear  Porter:  We  had  a  rough  time  of  it,  as  Boggs  will  tell  you,  but,  thank  God,  the  number 
of  killed  and  wounded  was  very  small,  considering.  This  ship  had  two  killed  and  eight  wounded. 
We.  destroyed  the  ram  in  a  single  combat  between  her  and  the  old  Mississippi,  but  the  ram  back- 
ed out  when  she  saw  the  Mississippi  coming  at  him  so  rampantly,  and  he  dodged  her,  and  ran  on 
shore,  whereupon  Smith  put  two  or  three  broadsides  through  him,  and  knocked  him  all  to  pieoos. 
The  ram  pushed  a  fire-raft  on  to  me,  and  in  trying  to  avoid  it,  I  ran  the  ship  on  shore.  He  again 
pushed  the  fire-raft  on  me,  and  got  the  ship  on  fire  all  along  one  side.  I  thought  it  was  all  up 
with  us,  but  we  put  it  out,  and  got  off  again,  prooeeding  up  the  river,  fighting  our  way.  We 
have  destroyed  all  but  two  of  the  gun-boats,  and  these  will  have  to  surrender  with  the  forte.  I 
intend  to  follow  up  my  success  and  push  for  New  Orleans,  and  then  come  down  and  attend  to 
the  forts,  so  you  hold  them  in  statu  quo  until  I  come  back.  I  think  if  you  send  a  flag  of  truoe, 
and  demand  their  surrender  they  will  yield,  for  their  intercourse  with  the  city  is  cut  off.  We 
have  cut  the  wires  above  the  quarantine,  and  are  now  going  ahead.  1  took  three  hundred  or  four 
hundred  prisoners  at  quarantine.  They  surrendered,  and  I  paroled  them  not  to  take  up  arms 
again.  I  could  not  stop  to  take  care  of  them.  If  the  general  will  come  up  to  the  Sayou  and  land 
a  few  men,  or  as  many  as  he  pleases,  he  will  find  two  of  our  gun-boats  there  to  protect  him  from 
gun-boats  that  arc  at  the  forts.  I  wish  to  get  to  the  English  Turn,  where  they  say  they  have  not 
placed  a  battery  yet,  but  have  two  above,  nearer  New  Orleans.  They  will  not  be  idle,  and 
neither  will  I.     You  supported  us  most  nobly.    Very  truly  yours, 

"D.  G.  Farraout." 


250  REDUCTION    OF   THE    FOETS. 

opposition.  Lieutenant  Weitzel  stationed  part  of  them  on  the  west- 
ern bank,  part  on  the  eastern.  Captain  Porter  had,  meanwhile, 
placed  some  of  his  mortar-schooners  in  the  bay  behind  Fort  Jack- 
son; and  thus,  on  the  morning  of  the  27th,  the  forts  were  invested 
on  every  side — up  the  river,  down  the  river,  and  in  the  rear. 

That  night  came  the  thrilling  news  that  Captain  Farra  gut's  fleet 
was  at  an  anchor  before  New  Orleans.  General  Butler,  perceiving 
the  absolute  necessity  of  light-draft  steamers  for  landing  his  heavy 
guns  and  ammunition,  desiring  also  to  confer  with  Captain  Farra- 
gut,  left  General  Williams  to  continue  the  landing  of  the  troops — 
a  work  of  days — and  went  up  to  the  city,  accompanied  by  Captain 
JBoggs. 

The  same  night,  a  picket  of  Union  men  on  the  western  bank  had 
a  peculiar  and  joyful  experience.  A  body  of  rebel  troops,  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  in  number,  came  out  of  Fort  Jackson,  and  gave  them- 
selves up.  They  said  they  had  fought  as  long  as  fighting  was  of 
any  use ;  but,  seeing  the  forts  surrounded,  they  had  resolved  not 
to  be  sacrificed  upon  a  point  of  honor,  and  therefore  had  muti- 
nied, spiked  the  up-river  guns,  and  broken  away.  The  forts  were 
still  defensible,  however,  and  could  have  given  the  troops  a  tough 
piece  of  work.  But,  the  next  morning,  the  officers  deemed  it  best 
to  surrender.  Captain  Porter,  who  chanced  to  be  present  in  the 
river,  and  had  the  means  of  reaching  the  forts  by  water,  negotiated 
the  surrender,  granting  conditions  more  favorable  than  were  neces- 
sary. The  officers  were  allowed  to  retain  their  side-arms  and  pri- 
vate property,  and  both  officers  and  men  were  released  on  parole. 
While  the  negotiations  were  proceeding  in  the  cabin  of  the  Harriet 
Lane,  the  huge  Louisiana  was  set  on  fire  by  her  officers,  and  set 
adrift  down  the  river.  She  blew  up  only  just  in  time  not  to  de- 
stroy the  Union  fleet,  toward  which  she  was  drifting.  The  explo- 
sion was  regarded  by  the  army  as  a  commentatory  note  of  exclama- 
tion upon  the  favorable  terms  conceded  to  the  garrison.  Captain 
Porter  justly  placed  in  close  confinement  the  officers  who  had  done 
the  dastardly  act. 

The  joy,  the  curiosity  with  which  the  troops  entered  the  forts 
and  scanned  the  result  of  the  long  fire  upon  them,  may  be  ima- 
gined. St.  Philip,  beyond  one  or  two  slight  abrasures,  was  abso- 
lutely uninjured.  Respecting  the  damage  done  to  Fort  Jackson, 
different  opinions  have  been  published.     It  is  important  for  our 


REDUCTION   OF   THE   FOETS.  251 

instruction  in  the  art  of  war  that  the  truth  upon  this  point  should 
be  known  and  established.  The  testimony  of  Lieutenant  Weitzel 
will  settle  the  question  in  the  mind  of  every  officer  of  the  regular 
army.  In  a  report  to  General  Butler,  dated  May  5th,  1862,  Lieu- 
tenant Weitzel  says : 

"  The  navy  passed  the  works,  but  did  not  reduce  them.  Fort  St. 
Philip  stands,  with  one  or  two  slight  exceptions,  to-day  without  a 
scratch.  Fort  Jackson  was  subjected  to  a  torrent  of  thirteen-inch 
and  eleven-inch  shells  during  a  hundred  and  forty-four  hours.  To 
an  inexperienced  eye  it  seems  as  if  this  work  were  badly  cut  up. 
It  is  as  strong  to-day  as  when  the  first  shell  was  fired  at  it.  The 
rebels  did  not  bomb-proof  the  citadel ;  consequently  the  roof  and 
furring  caught  fire.  This  fire,  with  subsequent  shells,  ruined  the 
walls  so  much  that  I  am  tearing  it  down  and  removing  the  debris 
to  the  outside  of  the  work.  Three  shot-furnaces  and  three  cisterns 
were  destroyed.  At  several  points  the  breast-hight  walls  were 
knocked  down.  One  angle  of  the  magazine  on  the  north  side  of 
the  postern  was  knocked  off.  Several  shells  went  through  the 
flank  casemate  arches  (which  were  not  covered  with  earth),  and  a 
few  through  the  other  casemate  arches  (where  two  or  more  struck 
in  the  same  place).  At  several  points  in  the  casemates,  the  thir- 
teen-inch shell  would  penetrate  through  the  earth  over  the  arches, 
be  stopped  by  the  latter,  then  explode,  and  loosen  a  patch  of  brick 
work  in  the  souffoir  of  the  arch  about  three  feet  in  diameter  and 
three-quarters  of  a  brick  deep,  at  its  greatest  depth. 

"  To  resist  an  assault,  and  even  regular  approaches,  it  is  as  strong 
to-day  as  ever  it  was.  I  conducted  a  land  force,  after  the  navy  had 
passed  up  the  river  by  the  way  of  the  gulf,  through  a  bayou  and 
canal  which  were  familiar  to  me,  to  a  point  on  the  river  about  five 
miles  above  the  works,  and  in  plain  sight  of  the  rebels,  but  out  of 
range.  The  garrison  of  Fort  Jackson  seeing  themselves  completely 
surrounded,  became  demoralized,  three  hundred  mutinied  and  de- 
serted in  a  body,  and  were  taken  by  a  picket  which  I  had  posted 
as  soon  as  I  landed  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  from  Cyprien's 
canal  to  Allen's  store.  The  commanding  officer  the  next  day  sur- 
rendered both  works.  He  had  provisions  in  them  for  four  months, 
and  ammunition  in  abundance. 

"They  had  about  eighty  heavy  guns  mounted,  in  all,  at  Fort 
Jackson,  and  about  forty  at  Fort  St.  Philip.  All  of  them  were  the 
11* 


252  REDUCTION   OP  THE  FORTS. 

old  guns  picked  up  at  the  different  works  around  the  city,  with  the 
exception  of  about  six  ten-inch  columbiads,  and  two  one-hundred- 
pounder  rifled  guns  (the  latter  of  their  own  manufacture  and  quito 
a  formidable  gun).  They  had  done  nothing  to  the  lower  battery  at 
Fort  Jackson  in  the  way  of  building  the  breast-heights  and  laying 
the  platforms.  Nearly  all  the  platforms  are  at  the  works.  They 
had  only  six  guns  in  the  lower  battery  at  Fort  Jackson,  only  four- 
teen guns  in  casemate  at  the  same  fort  (all  smooth  bore).  They 
had  seventeen  guns  in  the  upper  battery  and  eighteen  in  the  lower 
battery  at  Fort  St.  Philip  (all  the  old  guns),  and  only  five  in  the 
main  work. 

"The  fleet  suffered  most  from  the  two  batteries  at  Fort  St. 
Philip.  They  being  so  low  the  fleet  fired  over  them,  and  they  in 
their  turn  repeatedly  hulled  the  vessels. 

"  The  fire  on  both  sides,  as  a  general  thing,  was  too  high.  The 
fleet  followed  the  advice  I  gave  them,  to  run  in  right  close,  and  a 
great  many  of  the  officers  have  already  thanked  me  for  my  advice. 
I  was  with  the  fleet  during  the  bombardment,  giving  the  flag-officer 
and  others  the  benefit  of  my  knowledge  of  the  works,  and  during 
the  engagement  was  on  board  the  armed  transport  Saxon,  in  the 
bend  of  the  river  just  opposite  Fort  Jackson,  and  had  a  good  view 
of  the  engagement. 

"  In  conclusion  I  beg  leave  to  say,  that  you  have  every  reason 
to  be  proud  of  the  works ;  and  had  they  had  their  full  armament 
(the  new  one),  with  the  proper  amount  of  shell-guns,  that  fleet 
would  never  have  passed  them.  The  chain  was  removed  two 
nights  before  the  attack,  without  any  loss.  It  was  a  grand 
humbug." 

If  the  splendid  daring  of  Captain  Farragut  and  the  fleet  deprived 
General  Butler  of  his  lieutenant-generalship,  it  is  but  just  to  him 
and  the  army  to  declare,  that  it  was  the  prompt  and  unexpected 
landing  of  the  troops  in  the  rear  of  St.  Philip  that  caused  the  mu- 
tiny which  led  to  the  surrender.  Fighting  wins  the  laurel,  and 
justly  wins  it,  for  fighting  is  the  true  and  final  test  of  soldierly 
merit :  but  a  maneuver  which  accomplishes  results  without  fight- 
ing— that  also  merits  recognition. 


THE   PANIC   IN  NEW    ORLEANS.  253 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE   PANIC   IN   NEW   ORLEANS. 

New  Orleans  did  not  rush  headlong  into  secession  in  the 
Charleston  manner.  The  doctrine,  that  if  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected 
the  nation  must  be  broken  up,  was  not  popular  there  during  the 
canvass  of  1860;  it  was,  on  the  contrary,  scouted  by  the  ablest 
newspapers,  and  the  influential  men.  In  1856,  the  city  had  given  a 
majority  of  its  votes  to  Mr.  Fillmore;  in  1860,  Bell  and  Everett 
were  the  favorite  candidates.  Bell,  5,215  ;  Douglas,  2,996  ;  Breck- 
inridge, 2,646  ;  Lincoln,  0.  The  fact  was  manifest  to  all  reflecting 
men,  that  the  two  states  which  derived  from  the  Union  the  great- 
est sum-total  of  direct  pecuniary  benefit  were  Massachusetts  and 
Louisiana. 

The  great  sugar  interest,  the  Creole  sugar-planters,  who  held  the 
best  of  the  cultivated  parts  of  the  state,  stood  by  the  Union  last  of 
all.  Thomas  J.  Durant,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  New  Orleans,  one  of 
the  half  dozen  men  of  position  who  have  never  deserted  the  cause 
of  their  country,  says,  in  a  letter  to  General  Butler: 

"  The  protection  and  favor  which  were  enjoyed  by  these  men  under 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  the  benefit  they  derived 
from  their  possession  of  the  home  market  for  their  product,  to  the 
utter  exclusion  of  all  foreign  competition,  was  thoroughly  under- 
stood by  them.  They  are  men  retaining  all  the  peculiarities  of  a 
French  ancestry :  not  apt  in  what  is  called  business,  yet  fond  of 
gain ;  generous,  high-spirited,  and  averse  to  the  active  strife  of  com- 
merce as  well  as  of  politics.  They  never  concerned  themselves  too 
eagerly  in  the  contests  of  party,  and  no  equal  body  of  men  in  the 
South  looked  upon  secession  with  so  much  reluctance,  or  were  so 
unwilling  to  be  dragged  into  it,  as  the  sugar-planters  of  Louisiana. 
It  is  true,  they  at  last  yielded  to  the  moral  epidemic  which  Gver^ 
spread  the  South  ;  and  when  the  young  men,  under  the  excitement 
of  martial  enthusiasm  and  a  mistaken  view  of  the  interests  of  their 
section,  went  to  the  war,  their  feelings  became,  to  a  certain  extent, 


254  THE   PANIC    IN   NEW    OELEANS. 

» 

enlisted  on  the  side  of  the  Confederacy.  But  no  prominent  officer 
in  the  Confederate  army  has  come  from  the  ranks  of  the  sugar-plant- 
ers of  Louisiana  of  French  descent,  and,  indeed,  only  one  from  the 
sugar-planters  at  all — Brigadier-General  Richard  Taylor,  son  of  the 
late  president  of  the  United  States." 

The  first  gun  fired  in  a  war,  carries  conviction  to  wavering 
minds.  Every  man  in  the  world  either  is  a  secessionist,  or  could 
"become  one,  who  holds  slaves,  or  who  could  hold  slaves  with  an 
easy  conscience,  or  who  can  contemplate  the  fact  with  indifference 
that  slaves  are  held.  In  this  great  controversy,  the  United  States 
has  not  one  hearty  and  perfectly  trustworthy  adherent  on  earth, 
who  is  not  now  an  abolitionist.  Its  actual  and  possible  enemies  are 
all  who  do  not  detest  slavery,  whether  they  be  called  secessionists, 
copperheads,  or  Englishmen. 

So  the  "  moral  epidemic"  spread  in  New  Orleans,  and  it  became 
nearly  unanimous  for  secession.  If  the  majority  for  secession  was 
small  in  the  city,  it  sufficed  to  make  secession  master.  Union  men 
were  banished  by  law  ;  Union  sentiments  suppressed  by  violence. 
I  know  not  whether  the  horrid  tale  of  the  New  England  school- 
mistress stripped  naked  in  Lafayette  Square,  and  tarred  and  feather- 
ed amid  the  jeers  of  the  mob,  is  true  or  false.  I  presume  it  is  false  ; 
but  the  fact  remains,  that  neither  man  nor  woman  could  utter  a 
syllable  for  the  Union  in  New  Orleans  in  the  hearing  of  the  public, 
and  live.  A  very  few  persons  of  pre-eminent  standing  in  the  city, 
like  the  noble  Durant,  and  a  few  old  men,  who  could  not  give  up 
their  country  and  the  flag  they  had  fought  under  in  the  days  of 
their  youth,  were  tolerated  even  with  ostentation — so  firm  in  the 
saddle  did  secession  feel  itself. 

Even  the  foreign  consuls  were  devoted  secessionists ;  all  except 
Senor  Ruiz,  the  Mexican  consul.  Reichard,  the  consul  of  Prussia, 
raised  a  battalion  in  the  city,  and  led  it  to  Virginia,  where  he  rose 
to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general,  having  left  in  NeAV  Orleans,  as 
acting-consul,  Mr.  Kruttsmidt,  his  partner,  who  had  married  a 
daughter  of  the  rebel  secretary  of  war.  The  other  consuls,  con- 
nected with  secession  by  ties  of  business  or  matrimony,  or  both, 
were  among  the  most  zealous  adherents  of  the  Confederate  cause. 
This  is  an  important  fact,  when  we  consider  that  two-thirds  of  the 
business  men  were  of  foreign  birth,  and  a  vast  proportion  of  the 
whole  population  were  of  French,  Spanish,  and  German  descent. 


THE  PANIC  m  NEW  ORLEANS.  255 

The  double  blockade — blockade  above  and  blockade  below — ■ 
struck  death  to  the  commerce  of  New  Orleans,  a  city  created  and 
sustained  by  commerce  alone.  How  wonderful  was  that  commerce ! 
The  crescent  bend  of  the  river  upon  which  the  city  stands,  a  wav- 
ing line  seven  miles  in  extent,  used  to  display  the  commercial  activ- 
ity of  the  place  to  striking  advantage.  Cotton  ships,  eight  or  ten 
deep ;  a  forest  of  masts,  denser  than  any  but  a  tropical  forest ;  steam- 
boats in  bewildering  numbers,  miles  of  them,  puffing  and  hissing, 
arriving,  departing,  and  threatening  to  depart,  with  great  clangor 
of  bells  and  scream  of  whistles ;  cotton-bales  piled  high  along  the 
levee,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach ;  acres  and  acres  covered  with 
hogsheads  of  sugar  ;  endless  flotillas  of  flat-boats,  market-boats,  and 
timber-rafts ;  gangs  of  negroes  at  work  upon  every  part  of  the  levee, 
with  loud  chorus  and  outcry ;  and  a  constant  crowd  of  clerks,  mer- 
chants, sailors,  and  bandanna-crowned  negro  women  selling  coffee, 
cakes,  and  fruit.  It  was  a  spectacle  without  parallel  on  the  globe, 
because  the  whole  scene  of  the  city's  industry  was  presented  in  one 
view. 

What  a  change  was  wrought  by  the  mere  announcement  of  the 
blockade!  The  cotton  ships  disappeared;  the  steamboats  were 
laid  away  in  convenient  bayous,  or  departed  up  the  river  to  return 
no  more.  The  cotton  mountains  vanished ;  the  sugar  acres  were 
cleared.  The  cheerful  song  of  the  negroes  was  seldom  heard,  and 
grass  grew  on  the  vacant  levee.  The  commerce  of  the  city  was 
dead ;  and  the  forces  hitherto  expended  in  peaceful  and  victorious 
industry,  were  wholly  given  to  waging  war  upon  the  power  which 
had  called  that  industry  into  being,  defended  It  against  the  invader, 
protected  and  nourished  it  for  sixty  years,  guiltless  of  wrong.  Th'>. 
young  men  enlisted  in  the  army,  compelling  the  reluctant  stevedores, 
impressing  with  violence  the  foreign  born.  At  the  Exchange,  books 
were  opened  for  the  equipment  of  privateers.  For  the  first  six 
months  there  was  much  running  of  the  blockade,  one  vessel  in  three 
escaping,  and  the  profit  of  the  third  paying  for  the  two  lost.  Hoi- 
lins  was  busy  in  getting  ready  a  paltry  fleet  of  armed  vessels  for 
the  destruction  of  the  blockaders,  and  there  was  rare  hammering 
upon  rams  and  iron-clad  steamboats.  Seventeen  hundred  families 
meanwhile  were  daily  supplied  at  the  "free  market."  Look  into  one 
wholesale  grocery  store  through  the  following  advertisement : 

"  We  give  notice  to  our  friends  generally,  that  we  have  been 


25fi  THE  PANIC   IN   NEW   ORLEANS. 

compelled  to  discontinue  the  grocery  business,  particularly  for  the 
reason  that  we  have  now  no  goods  for  sale,  except  a  little  L.  F.  salt. 
Persons  ordering  goods  of  us  must  send  the  cash  to  fill  the  order, 
unless  they  have  money  to  their  credit.  Four  of  our  partners  and 
six  of  our  clerks  are  in  the  army,  and  having  sold  out  our  stock  of 
goods  on  credit,  we  have  no  money  to  buy  more  to  be  disposed  of 
that  way." 

A  word  or  two  upon  the  "Thugs"  of  New  Orleans,  the  party 
controlling  municipal  affairs  for  some  years  past.  New  Yorkers  are 
in  a  position  to  understand  this  matter  with  very  little  explanation, 
since  the  local  politics  of  New  Orleans  and  of  New  York  present 
the  same  essential  features,  the  same  dire  results  of  the  fell  principle 
of  universal  suffrage.  Martin  Van  Buren  predicted  it  all  forty-two 
years  ago,  when  opposing  the  admission  to  the  polls  of  every  man 
out  of  prison  who  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  said  then, 
what  we  now  know  to  be  true,  that  universal  suffrage,  in  large 
commercial  cities,  would  make  those  cities  a  dead  weight  upon  the 
politics  of  the  states  to  which  they  belong ;  would  repel  from  local 
politics  the  men  who  ought  to  control  them ;  would  consign  the 
cities  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Dexterous  Spoiler,*  who  could 
only  be  dethroned  by  bloody  revolution.  Is  it  not  so  ?  Who  is 
master  of  certain  great  cities  but  Dexterous  Spoiler,  supported  by 
the  dollars  of  Head  Jew  ? 

It  must  be  so  under  universal  suffrage.  Here  we  have,  say,  ten 
thousand  ignorant  voters ;  ignorant,  many  of  them,  of  the  very  lan- 
guage of  the  country ;  ignorant,  most  of  them,  of  the  art  of  reading 
it.  These  ten  thousand  are  thirsty  men,  hangers-on  of  our  six  or 
seven  thousand  groggeries,  the  keepers  of  which  are  as  completely 
the  minions  and  servants  of  Dexterous  as  though  they  were  in  his 
pay.  New  Yorkers  know  why  this  is  so.  Here,  then,  are  sixteen 
or  seventeen  thousand  votes  to  begin  with,  as  capital-stock  and 
basis  of  political  business.  Add  to  these  five  thousand  of  those 
lazy,  thoughtless  men  in  the  carpeted  spheres  of  life,  who  can  never 
be  induced  to  vote  at  all ;  some  even  pluming  themselves  upon  the 
fact.  So  there  are  twenty  thousand  votes  or  more,  which  Dexter- 
ous can,  in  all  cases,  and  in  all  weathers,  count  upon  with  absolute 
certainty.  Then  there  are  sundry  other  thousands  who  can  only 
be  got  to  the  polls  by  moving  heaven  and  earth ;  which  is  an  ex- 

*  See  Mr.  Van  Burcn's  argument  in  Part  on1  a  Life  of  Jackson,  iii.,  129. 


THE  PANIC  IN  NEW  0KLEAXS.  257 

pensive  process,  involving  unlimited  Roman  candles  and  endless 
hirings  of  the  Cooper  Institute.  The  majority  of  these,  in  most 
elections,  allow  themselves  to  remain  in  the  scale  that  weighs  down 
struggling  Decency.  In  a  word,  our  Dexterous  Spoiler,  by  his  pos- 
session of  the  ten  thousand  votes  which  a  justly  restricted  suffrage 
would  exclude,  controls  the  politics  of  the  city.  Probably,  the  mere 
exclusion  of  all  voters  who  can  not  read  would  render  the  politics 
of  cities  manageable  in  the  interests  of  Decency.  In  the  absence 
of  all  restriction,  the  Spoiler  must  bear  sway. 

As  in  New  York,  so  in  New  Orleans ;  only  worse.  The  curse 
of  universal  suffrage  in  New  York  is  mitigated  by  several  circum- 
stances, which  have  hitherto  sufficed  to  keep  anarchy  at  bay. 
First,  it  is  still  true  in  New  York,  that  when  the  issue  is  distinct 
and  sole  between  Decency  and  Spoliation,  and  there  has  been  the 
due  moving  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  party  of  Decency  can  always 
secure  a  small  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  votes.  Secondly, 
one  evening,  about  fifteen  years  ago,  New  York  rowdyism  fell, 
weltering  in  blood,  in  Astor  Place,  before  the  fire  of  the  Seventh 
regiment.  It  has  known  three  days  of  resurrection  since,  owing  to 
a  combination  of  causes  never  likely  to  be  again  combined.  Third, 
New  York  has  had  the  supreme  happiness  of  rescuing  its  police 
from  all  control  of  the  Spoiler.  The  police  department  has  been 
taken  out  of  politics,  and  has  daily  improved  ever  since,  until 
now  there  is  no  better  police  in  the  world,  and  no  city  where  the 
reign  of  order  is  more  unbroken — where  life  and  property  are 
more  secure.  Again:  the  alliance  between  the  Spoiler  and  the 
Banker  compels  the  Spoiler  to  stop  short  of  attempting  the  mani- 
festly anarchic.  The  Spoiler,  too,  has  his  moneys  and  his  usances, 
and  values  the  same. 

What  New  York  would  have  been  without  its  small,  safe  ma- 
jority on  the  side  of  Decency,  without  the  Astor  Place  riot,  and 
without  the  timidity  of  Wall  street,  that  New  Orleans  was,  for 
many  years  before  the  rebellion ;  with  all  evil  tendencies  acceler- 
ated and  aggravated  by  the  presence  of  slavery.  New  Orleans  was 
the  metropolis  of  the  cotton  kingdom,  the  receptacle  of  its  wealth 
and  of  its  refuse,  the  theater  of  its  display  and  the  pool  of  its 
abominations. 

Now,  the  peculiarity  of  the  cotton  kingdom — that  which  chiefly 
distinguishes  it  from  the  other  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  is  this :  In 


258  THE   PANIC   IN  NEW    ORLEANS. 

other  kingdoms  wickedness  is  committed,  but  is  admitted  to  bo, 
wickedness ;  it  is  reprobated  and  warred  upon ;  it  hides  itself, 
and  is  ashamed.  But  the  cotton  kingdom  distinctly,  and  in  the 
hearing  of  the  whole  world,  adopted  wickedness  as  its  portion  and 
specialty.  It  did  not  say,  Evil  be  thou  our  Good ;  but  our  Evil  is 
not  evil ;  it  is  good,  beneficent,  and  even  Divine.  In  the  case  of 
Cain  versus  Abel,  the  cotton  kingdom,  with  the  utmost  possible 
clearness  and  decision,  supported  Cain.  If  the  "difficulty"  be- 
tween the  brothers  had  occurred  in  the  rotunda  of  the  St.  Charles 
hotel,  Public  Opinion  would  have  clapped  Cain  on  the  back,  and  call- 
ed him  a  high-spirited,  chivalrous  young  fellow,  a  worthy  son  of 
one  of  our  first  families.  It  was  the  unwritten  law  of  New  Orleans, 
that  if  one  man  said  to  another  man  an  offensive  word,  the  proper 
penalty  was  instant  assassination ;  which  was  precisely  the  princi- 
ple upon  which  Cain  acted.  In  New  Orleans,  every  man  carried 
about  his  person  the  means  of  executing  this  law  with  certainty  and 
dispatch. 

Doctor  McCormick,  of  the  United  States  army,  medical  director 
at  New  Orleans  during  General  Butler's  administration,  familiar  with 
the  city  in  former  years,  related  to  me  the  following  anecdote : — 

Time — about  ten  years  before  secession.  Place — the  Charity 
Hospital  at  New  Orleans,  in  charge  of  Doctor  McCormick.  A 
friend  from  the  North  visited  the  doctor  at  the  hospital,  and  went 
the  rounds  with  him  one  morning.  Among  the  patients  were  four 
men  wounded  in  affrays  during  the  previous  evening  and  night ; 
two  mortally,  whose  wounds  the  doctor  dressed.  The  morning 
tour  completed,  the  friends  were  leaving  the  building,  when  they 
met  a  man  coming  in  who  had  been  just  stabbed  in  the  eye,  in  a 
street  quarrel.  The  doctor  dressed  his  wound,  and  again  the  friends 
turned  to  go.  Before  reaching  the  front-door,  they  met  a  man 
with  four  balls  in  his  chest,  received  in  an  affray.  His  wounds 
were  dressed,  and  the  gentlemen  then  succeeded  in  making  their 
escape. 

"  Doctor,"  exclaimed  the  visitor,  aghast,  "  is  this  common  ?" 

"  Not  to  this  extent,"  replied  the  doctor,  "  not  six  a  day.  But 
two  or  three  a  day  is  common :  that  is  about  the  daily  average  dur- 
ing the  season." 

"Well,"  said  his  friend,  "this  is  no  place  for  me.  I  meant  to 
stay  a  week;  but  I  leave  New  Orleans  to-night." 


THE    PANIC   IN   NEW    ORLEANS.  259 

Duels,  too.  Miss  Martineau's  "  fifteen  duels  on  one  Sunday  morn- 
ing" was  probably  no  exaggeration.  Doctor  McCormick  declared, 
that  lie  has  himself  witnessed  six  in  one  day  from  a  window  of  the 
United  States  barracks.  He  has  seen  men  in  mortal  combat  while 
driving  along  a  road  near  the  city  with  his  wife  ;  seen  them  fight- 
ing as  he  passed ;  seen  the  dead  body  of  one  of  them  as  he  returned. 

"  What  could  the  fools  find  to  fight  about  ?"  asks  the  incredulous 
northern  reader.     Hear  a  very  competent  witness  : 

"Young  men  meet  around  the  festive  board.  The  wine-cup 
passes  freely."  The  climate  favors  drinking;  men  can  drink  three 
times  the  quantity  of  wine  that  a  northern  head  can  bear.  "  Con- 
versation becomes  a  confusion  of  unmeaning  words.  One  declares 
that  General  Lopez  was  a  patriot  and  martyr  to  the  cause  of  free- 
dom and  the  world,  and  another  that  he  was  an  adventurer,  and  in 
bowing  his  neck  to  the  garrote,  only  paid  the  penalty  of  his  rash- 
ness. One  avers  that  Isabella  Catholica,  mother  to  the  baby  prince 
of  the  Asturias,  is  another  Semiramis — worse  only — having  had 
Christian  baptism.  Another,  with  equal  warmth,  contends  that  this 
same  queen-mother,  patroness  of  all  the  bull-fights,  and  queen  of  the 
Antilles,  is  a  wedded  Vestal,  more  chaste  than  the  icicle  which 
hangs  on  Diana's  temples,  purer  than  Alpine  snows.  One  cries, 
'God  save  Spain's  royal  mistress;'  and  another  swears  that  an 
anointed  Amazon,  who  rides  a-straddle  through  the  streets,  shall 
have  no  vivas  from  him.  A  slap  in  the  face !  The  rising  of  the  sun 
sees  them  on  the  battle-field,  arrayed  all  in  white.  Under  the 
spreading  oaks  of  Gentilly,  they  crush  the  daisies  beneath  their  feet, 
and  brush  the  dew  from  the  lilies  that  brightly  blossom  there.  Is 
there  none  to  whisper  peace?  None.  There  is  a  click  of  the  swift 
trigger,  and  a  hiss  of  the  leaden  death;  a  spring  into  the  air;  a 
yell,  a  groan,  a  gurgling  of  the  purple  life-current ;  and  it  is  done ! 
What  now  ?  Chains  and  a  prison  for  the  slayer  ?  Neither ;  but 
honor  and  laudation  for  him  who  has  had  the  bravery  to  kill."* 

"  Honor  and  laudation,"  says  our  narrator,  await  the  murderer. 
Even  so.  Let  me  relate  one  of  Dr.  McCormick's  duel  anecdotes ;  he 
having  witnessed  the  scenes  he  described,  and  assisted  at  them  as 
attending  surgeon.  The  events  occurred  near  New  Orleans — the 
parties  well  known  there,  all  of  them  being  men  of  wealth  and  great 
note  in  the  cotton  kingdom.     Time,  1841. 

*  New  Orleann  Delta,  June  3d,  1SC8. 


260  THE   PANIC   IN   NEW    OELEANb. 

The  principals  were  Colonel  Augustus  Alston,  a  graduate  of 
West  Point,  and  Colonel  Lee  Reed ;  planters,  both  ;  chief  men  of 
their  county;  politicians,  of  course.  Long-standing,  bitter  feud 
between  the  families,  aggravated  by  political  aspirations  and  disap- 
pointments ;  the  whole  county  sympathizing  with  one  or  the  other 
— eagerly,  wildly  sympathizing.  The  quarrel  relieved  the  tedium 
of  idleness;  served  instead  of  morning  paper  to  the  men,  supplied 
the  want  of  new  novels  to  the  women.  At  length,  one  of  the  Alston 
party,  on  slight  pretext,  challenged  Reed,  which  challenge  Reed 
refused  to  accept;  no  man  but  Alston  for  his  pistol.  Another 
Alstonian  challenge,  and  yet  another,  he  declined.  Then  Alston 
himself  sent  a  challenge — Alston,  the  best  shot  in  a  state  whose  citi- 
zens cultivated  the  deadly  art  with  the  zeal  of  saints  toiling  after 
perfection.  This  challenge  Lee  instantly  accepted.  Weapon,  the 
rifle,  hair-trigger,  ounce  ball.  Men  to  stand  at  twenty  paces,  back 
to  back ;  to  wheel  at  the  word  One ;  to  fire  as  soon  as  they  pleased 
after  the  word;  the  second  to  continue  counting  as  far  as  five; 
after  which,  no  firing. 

Lee  was  a  slow,  portly  man — a  good  shot  if  he  could  fire  in  his 
own  way  without  this  preliminary  wheeling.  He  regarded  himself 
as  a  dead  man  ;  he  felt  that  he  had  no  chance  whatever  of  his  life 
on  such  terms,  not  one  in  a  thousand.  He  bought  a  coffin  and  a 
shroud,  and  arranged  all  his  affairs  for  immediate  death.  The  day 
before  the  duel,  his  second,  a  captain  in  the  army,  took  him  out.  of 
town  and  gave  him  a  long  drill  in  the  wheel-and-fire  exercise. 
The  pupil  was  inapt — could  not  get  the  knack  of  wheeling.  If  he 
wheeled  quickly,  his  aim  was  bad ;  if  he  wheeled  slowly,  there 
was  no  need  of  his  aiming  at  all,  for  his  antagonist  was  as  ready 
with  heel  as  with  trigger,  from  old  training  at  West  Point. 
"  Lee,"  said  the  captain,  "  you  must  wheel  quicker  or  you've  no 
chance."  Stimulated  with  this  remark,  Lee  wheeled  with  velocity, 
and  fired  with  such  success  as  to  bring  down  a  neighbor  riding 
along  the  road. 

Lee  sent  his  coffin  and  shroud  to  the  field.  Mrs.  Alston  accompa- 
nied her  husband.    "I  have  come,"  she  said,  "to  see  Lee  Reed  shot." 

The  men  were  placed,  and  the  second  counted  one.  In  swiftly, 
wheeling,  the  light  cape  of  Alston's  coat  touched  the  hair-trigger, 
and  his  ball  whistled  over  Reed's  head,  who  stood  amazed,  with 
rifle  half  presented.     The  word  two,  recalled  him  to  himself;  he 


THE   PANIC   IN   NEW    OELEANS.  261 

fired ;  and  Alston  fell  pierced  through  the  heart.  Mrs.  Alston 
flew  to  her  fallen  husband,  and  found  the  ball  which  had  slain  him. 
In  the  sight  and  hearing  of  all  the  witnesses  of  the  duel,  her  dead 
husband  bleeding  at  her  feet,  she  lifted  up  the  ball,  and  with  loud 
voice  and  fierce  dramatic  gesture,  swore  that  that  ball  should  kill 
Lee  Reed. 

Now,  observe  the  conduct  of  the  "  chivalry"  upon  this  occasion. 
Note  the  Public  Opinion  of  that  community.  Were  they  touched 
by  Lee's  magnificent  courage?  Were  they  moved  to  gentler 
thoughts  by  Alston's  just  but  lamentable  end  ?  The  Montagues 
and  Capulets  were  reconciled  over  dead  Juliet  and  Romeo  : 

"  0  brother  Montague,  give  me  thy  hand  : 
This  is  my  daughter's  jointure ;   for  no  more 
Can  I  demand." 

"N"ot  so,  the  chivalry  of  the  South.  In  the  afternoon,  ten  of  the 
Alston  party,  headed  by  Willis  Alston,  brother  of  the  deceased, 
drew  themselves  up,  rifle  in  hand,  bowie-knife  and  pistol  in  belt, 
before  the  hotel  in  which  the  adherents  of  Reed  were  assembled 
congratulating  their  chief.  They  sent  in  a  messenger  challenging 
ten  of  the  Lee  party  to  come  forth  and  fight  them  in  the  public 
square.  Much  parleying  ensued,  which  ended  in  the  refusal  of  the 
Lees  to  accept  the  invitation. 

A  few  days  after,  Lee  was  seated  at  the  table  of  the  hotel,  in 
the  public  dining-room,  at  which  also  sat  men,  ladies  and  children — 
a  large  number — Dr.  McCormick  among  them.  Willis  Alston  en- 
tered, took  his  stand  opposite  Lee,  drew  a  pistol,  and  shot  him 
through  the  liver.  The  wound  was  not  mortal.  After  some  months 
of  confinement,  Lee  was  well  again,  and  went  about  as  usual,  the 
bloody-minded  Alston  still  loose  among  the  people.  They  met  at 
length  in  the  streets  of  the  town,  and  Alston  shot  him  again,  in- 
flicting this  time  a  mortal  wound. 

Then,  there  was  a  hideous  farce  of  a  trial.  Every  man  in  the 
court-room,  except  two,  was  armed  to  the  teeth.  Those  two 
were  the  judge,  and  the  principal  witness,  Doctor  McCormick. 
The  jurymen  all  had  a  rifle  at  their  side  in  the  jury-box — twelve 
men,  twelve  rifles.  The  prisoner  had  two  enormous  horse-pistols 
protruding  from  his  vest.  The  spectators  were  all  armed;  the 
Lees  to  prevent  a  rescue  in  case  of  conviction,  the  Alstons  to  pro- 


262  THE   PANIC   IN   NEW    ORLEANS. 

tect  their  man  in  case  of  acquittal.  The  counsel  for  the  accused 
admitted  that  their  client  had  shot  the  deceased,  but  contended  that 
the  wound  then  inflicted  was  not  the  cause  of  his  death.  Doctor 
McCormick  was  called,  and  took  the  stand  amid  the  deepest  silence, 
the  prisoner  glaring  at  him  like  the  wild  beast  he  was. 

"  Is  it  your  belief  that  the  deceased  came  to  his  death  from  the 
wound  inflicted  by  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  ?" 

"  I  have  no  belief  on  the  subject,"  replied  the  witness.  "  It  is  not 
a  matter  of  belief,  but  of  fact.     I  know  he  did." 

That  night,  the  trial  not  yet  concluded,  the  prisoner  deemed  it 
best  to  escape  from  prison.  He  went  to  Texas  ;  met  0*1  a  road 
there  an  old  enemy,  whom  he  shot  dead  in  his  saddle;  and  on 
reaching  the  next  town,  boasted  of  his  exploit  to  the  murdered 
man's  friends  and  neighbors.  Thirty  of  them  seized  him,  tied  him 
to  a  tree,  and  shot  him,  all  the  thirty  firing  at  once,  to  divide  the 
responsibility  among  them.  And  so  the  brute's  career  was  fitly 
ended. 

Nor  can  we  pity  the  murdered  Reed,  brave  as  he  was ;  for  he, 
too,  was  a  man  of  blood.  They  tell  of  an  early  duel  of  his  so  in- 
credibly savage,  that,  in  comparison  with  it,  General  Jackson's  little 
affair  with  Charles  Dickinson  seems  the  play  of  boys.  Picture  it. 
Two  men  standing  sixty  feet  apart,  back  to  back,  each  armed  with 
two  revolvers  and  a  bowie  knife.  They  are  to  wheel  at  the  word, 
approach  one  another  firing,  fire  as  fast  as  they  choose,  advance 
as  rapidly  as  they  choose.  Pistols  failing,  then  the  grapple  and 
the  knife.  As  it  was  arranged,  so  it  was  done.  Lee  fired  his  last 
charge,  but  his  antagonist  was  still  erect.  The  men  were  within 
six  feet  of  one  another,  when  Lee,  bleeding  fast  from  several  wounds, 
collected  his  remaining  strength,  and  threw  his  pistol,  with  despe- 
rate force  in  his  antagonist's  face,  and  felled  him  with  the  blow. 
Lee  staggered  forward,  and  fell  upon  him.  Drawing  his  knife,  he 
was  seen  feeling  for  the  heart  of  his  enemy,  and  having  found  it,  he 
placed  the  point  of  the  knife  over  it  and  tried  to  drive  it  home. 
He  could  not.  Then  holding  the  knife  with  one  hand  he  tried  to 
raise  himself  with  the  other,  so  as  to  fall  upon  the  knife,  and  kill 
his  adversary  by  mere  gravitation.  This  amazing  spectacle  was  too 
much  even  for  the  seconds  in  a  southern  duel,  one  of  whom  seized 
the  man  by  the  feet  and  drew  him  off*.  It  was  found  that  his  an- 
tagonist was  dead  where  he  lay ;   but  Lee  recovered  to  figure  in 


•  THE    PANIC    IN   NEW    OKLEASS.  263 

another  of  these  savage   conflicts,  and  to  die  by  violence  in  the 
streets. 

We  may  ask,  with  Dr.  McCormick's  friend,  "  Were  such  things 
common  in  the  '  cotton  kingdom  ?'  "  The  doctor's  answer  will  suf- 
fice :  "  Not  to  this  extent ;"  but  scenes  like  these  were  common ; 
and  the  spirits,  the  habits,  the  cast  of  character,  which  gave  rise  to 
them,  were  all  but  universal.  What,  then,  must  New  Orleans  have 
been,  the  chief  city  of  that  kingdom,  with  a  police  subject  to  the 
city  government,  the  city  government  controlled  by  "  Thugs,"  and 
the  "  Thugs"  managed  by  the  Spoiler,  in  alliance  with  the  money- 
changer ? 

We  return  to  the  morning  of  April  24  th,  on  which  the  Union 
fleet  ran  past  the  forts. 

Never  before  were  the  people  of  New  Orleans  so  confident  of  a 
victorious  defense,  as  when  they  read  in  the  newspapers  of  that 
morning  the  brief  report  of  General  Duncan,  touching  the  twenty- 
five  thousand  ineffectual  shells.  Always  the  city  had  implicitly 
relied  on  its  defenses ;  but,  after  six  days  of  vain  bombardment,  the 
confidence  of  the  people  was  such  that  news  from  below  had  ceased 
to  be  very  interesting,  and  every  one  went  about  his  business  as 
though  nothing  unusual  was  going  on. 

At  half-past  nine  in  the  morning,  late  risers  still  dawdling  over 
their  coffee  and  Delta,  the  bell  of  one-  of  the  churches,  which  had 
been  designated  as  the  alarm  bell,  struck  the  concerted  signal  of 
alarm — twelve  strokes  four  times  repeated.  It  was  the  well-known 
summons  for  all  armed  bodies  to  assemble  at  their  head-quarters 
There  was  a  wild  rush  to  the  newspaper  bulletin-boards. 

"  It  is  repokted  that  two  op  the  enemy's  gun-boats  have 
succeeded  in  passing  the  poets." 

This  was  all  that  came  over  the  wires  before  Captain  Farragut 
cut  them ;  but  it  was  enough  to  give  New  Orleans  a  dismal  pre- 
monition of.  the  coming  catastrophe.  The  troops  flew  to  their  re- 
spective rendezv ous.  The  city  was  filled  with  rumors.  The  whole 
population  was  in  the  streets  all  day.  The  bulletin-boards  were 
besieged,  but  nothing  more  could  be  extracted  from  them.  There 
were  but  twenty-eight  hundred  Confederate  troops  in  the  city ;  and 
General  Lovell,  their  commander,  had  gone  down  to  the  forts  the 
day  before,  and  was  now  galloping  back  along  the  levee  like  a  man 
riding  a  steeple-chase.    The  militia,  however,  were  numerous ;  con- 


264  THE   PANIC   IN   NEW    ORLEANS: 

spicuous  among  them  the  European  Brigade,  composed  of  French, 
English  and  Spanish  battalions.  A  fine  regiment  of  free  colored 
men  was  on  duty  also.  But,  in  the  absence  of  the  general,  and 
the  uncertainty  of  the  intelligence,  nothing  was  done  or  could  be 
done,  but  assemble  and  wait,  and  increase  the  general  alarm  by  the 
spectacle  of  masses  of  troops. 

The  newspapers  of  the  afternoon  could  add  nothing  to  the  intel- 
ligence of  the  morning.  But,  at  half-past  two,  General  Lovell 
arrived,  bringing  news  that  the  Union  fleet  had  passed  the  forts, 
destroyed  the  Confederate  gun-boats,  and  was  approaching  the 
city.  Then  the  panic  set  in.  Stores  were  hastily  closed,  and  many 
were  abandoned  without  closing.  People  left  their  houses  forget- 
ting to  shut  the  front-door,  and  ran  about  the  streets  without  ap- 
parent object.  There  was  a  fearful  beating  of  drums,  and  a  run- 
ning together  of  soldiers.  Women  were  seen  bonnetless,  with  pistol 
in  each  hand,  crying:  "Burn  the  city.  Never  mind  us.  Burn  the 
city."  Officers  rode  about  impressing  carts  and  drays  to  remove 
the  cotton  from  store-houses  to  the  levee  for  burning.  Four  mil- 
lions of  specie  were  carted  from  the  banks  to  the  railroad  stations, 
and  sent  out  of  the  city.  The  consulates  were  filled  with  people, 
bringing  their  valuables  to  be  stored  under  the  protection  of  foreign 
flags.  Traitor  Twiggs  made  haste  to  fly,  leaving  his  swords  to  the 
care  of  a  young  lady — the  swords  voted  him  by  Congress  and  legis- 
lature for  services  in  Mexico.  Other  conspicuous  traitors  followed 
his  prudent  example.  The  authorities,  Confederate  and  municipal, 
were  at  their  wit's  end.  Shall  the  troops  remain  and  defend  the 
city,  or  join  the  army  of  Beauregard  at  Corinth  ?  It  was  concluded 
to  join  Beauregard  ;  at  least  to  get  out  of  the  city,  beyond  the  guns 
of  the  fleet,  and  so  save  the  city  from  bombardment.  Some  thou- 
sands of  the  militia,  it  appears,  left  with  the  twenty-eight  hundred 
Confederate  troops,  choking  the  avenues  of  escape  with  multitudi- 
nous vehicles.  Other  thousands  remained,  doffing  their  uniforms, 
exchanging  garments  even  with  negroes,  and  returned  to  their 
homes.  The  regiment  of  free  colored  men  would  not  leave  the  city 
— a  fact  which  was  remembered,  some  months  later,  to  their  ad- 
vantage. 

At  such  a  time  could  the  Thugs  be  inactive  ?  To  keep  them  in 
check,  to  save  the  city  from  conflagration  and  plunder,  the  mayor 
cdlcd  upon  the  European  brigade,  and  placed  the  city  under  their 


THE    PANIC    IN    NEW    OBLEANS.  2C5 

charge.  They  accepted  the  duty,  repressed  the  tumult,  and  pre- 
vented the  destruction  of  the  town,  threatened  alike  by  frenzied 
women  and  spoliating  rowdies. 

So  passed  the  afternoon  of  Thursday,  April  24th.  I  indicate  only 
the  leading  features  of  the  scene.  The  reader  must  imagine  the 
rest,  if  he  can.  Only  those  who  have  seen  a  large  city  suddenly 
driven  mad  with  apprehension  and  rage,  can  form  an  adequate  con- 
ception of  the  confusion,  the  hurry,  the  bewilderment,  the  terror, 
the  fury,  that  prevailed.  Such  denunciations  of  Duncan,  of  the 
governor  of  the  state,  of  the  general  in  command  !  Such  maledic- 
tions upon  the  Yankees !  Such  a  strife  between  those  who  wished 
New  Orleans  to  be  another  Moscow,  and  those  who  pleaded  for  the 
homes  of  fifty  thousand  women  and  children !  Such  a  hunting 
down  of  the  few  Union  men  and  women,  who  dared  to  display 
their  exultation  !  Such  a  threatening  of  instant  lamp-post,  or  swifter 
pistol  bullet,  to  any  who  should  so  much  as  look  at  a  Yankee  with- 
out a  scowl!  Woe,  woe,  to  the  man  who  should  give  them  the 
slightest  semblance  of  aid  or  sympathy !  Hail,  yellow  fever !  once 
the  dreaded  scourge  of  New  Orleans ;  more  welcome  now  than  the 
breezes  of  October  after  a  summer  of  desolation!  Come,  De- 
stroyer ;  come,  and  blast  these  hated  foes  of  a  sublime  southern 
chivalry !     Come,  though  we  also  perish  ! 

During  the  evening  of  Thursday,  before  it  was  known  whether 
the  batteries  at  Chalmette  could  retard  the  upward  progress  of  the 
fleet,  the  famous  burning  of  cotton  and  ships  began :  fifteen  thou- 
sand bales  of  cotton  on  the  levee  ;  twelve  or  fifteen  cotton  ships,  in 
the  river ;  fifteen  or  twenty  river  steamboats  ;  an  unfinished  ram 
of  great  magnitude ;  the  dry-docks ;  vast  heaps  of  coal ;  vaster 
stores  of  steamboat  wood ;  miles  of  steamboat  wood ;  ship  timber ; 
board-yards ;  whatever  was  supposed  to  be  of  use  to  Yankees ;  all 
was  set  on  fire,  and  the  heavens  were  black  with  smoke.  Hogs- 
heads of  sugar  and  barrels  of  molasses  were  stove  in  by  hundreds. 
Parts  of  the  levee  ran  molasses.  Thousands  of  negroes  and  poor 
white  people  were  carrying  off  the  sugar  in  aprons,  pails,  and 
baskets.  And,  as  if  this  were  not  enough,  the  valiant  governor 
of  Louisiana  fled  away  up  the  river  in  the  swiftest  steamboat  he 
could  find,  spreading  alarm  as  he  went,  and  issuing  proclamations, 
calling  on  the  planters  to  burn  every  bale  of  cotton  in  the  state 
which  the  ruthless  invaders  could  reach. 


2(36  THE    PANIC    IN   NEW    ORLEANS. 

"  If,"  said  he,  "  you  are  resolved  to  be  free  ;  if  you  are  worthy 
of  the  heroic  blood  that  has  come  down  to  you  through  hallowed 
generations ;  if  you  have  fixed  your  undimmed  eyes  upon  the  bright- 
ness that  is  spread  out  before  you  and  your  children,  and  are  deter- 
mined to  shake  away  for  ever  all  political  association  with  the 
venal  hordes  that  now  gather  like  a  pestilence  about  your  fair  coun- 
try; now,  my  fellow-citizens,  is  the  time  to  strike."  He  meant 
strike  a  light ;  for  he  continues  thus  :  "  One  sparkling,  living  torch 
of  fire,  for  one  hour,  in  manly  action  upon  each  other's  plantation, 
and  the  eternal  seal  of  southern  independence  is  fired  and  fixed  in 
the  great  heart  of  the  world." 

This  sublime  effusion  had  its  effect,  supported  as  it  was  by  the 
presence  of  the  Union  fleet  in  the  sacred  river.  Hence,  as  we  are 
officially  informed,  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  bales  of  cotton 
were  consumed,  during  the  next  few  days,  in  a  region  already  im- 
poverished by  the  war.  Not  a  pound  of  this  cotton  was  in  danger 
of  seizure ;  it  was  safer  after  the  fall  of  the  city  than  before. 

About  twelve  o'clock,  the  fleet  hove  in  sight  of  assembled  New 
Orleans.  The  seven  miles  of  crescent  levee  were  one  living  fringe 
of  human  beings,  who  looked  upon  the  coming  ships  with  inex- 
pressible sorrow,  shame,  and  anger.  Again  the  cry  arose,  burn 
the  city ;  a  cry  that  might  have  been  obeyed  but  for  the  known 
presence  and  determination  of  the  European  brigade.  The  people 
were  given  over  to  a  strong  delusion,  the  result  of  two  generations 
of  De  Bow  falsehood  and  Calhoun  heresy.  That  fleet,  if  they  had 
but  known  it,  was  Deliverance,  not  Subjugation ;  it  was  to  end,  not 
begin,  the  reign  of  terror  and  of  wrong.  The  time  will  come  when 
New  Orleans  will  know  this ;  when  the  anniversary  of  this  day  will 
be  celebrated  with  thankfulness  and  joy,  and  statues  of  Farragut 
and  Butler  will  adorn  the  public  places  of  the  city.  But  before 
that  time  comes,  what  years  of  wise  and  heroic  labor !  The  fleet 
drew  near  and  cast  anchor  in  the  stream,  the  crowd  looking  on, 
some  in  sullen  silence,  many  uttering  yells  of  execration,  a  few  se- 
cretly rejoicing,  all  deeply  moved. 


HEW    ORLEANS   WELL  NOT   SURRENDER.  26*7 

CHAPTER   XV. 

NEW    ORLEANS   WILL   NOT   SURRENDER. 

Captain  Farragtjt's  fleet  emerged  from  the  hurly-burly  of  the 
fight  on  the  morning  of  the  24th,  into  a  beautiful  and  tranquil 
scene.  Soon  after  leaving  quarantine,  the  sugar  plantations,  with 
their  villas  girdled  with  pleasant  verandas,  and  surrounded  with 
trees,  each  with  its  village  of  negro  huts  near  by,  appeared  on  both 
sides  of  the  river.  The  canes  were  a  foot  high,  and  of  the  bright- 
est April  green,  rendered  more  vivid  by  the  background  of  forest 
a  mile  from  the  river.  Except  that  a  white  flag  or  rag  was  hung 
from  many  of  the  houses,  and,  in  some  instances,  a  torn  and  faded 
American  flag,  a  relic  of  better  times,  there  was  little  to  remind  the 
voyagers  that  they  were  in  an  enemy's  country.  Here  and  there  a 
white  man  was  seen  waving  a  Union  flag ;  and  occasionally  a  ges- 
ture of  defiance  or  contempt  was  discerned.  The  negroes  who 
were  working  in  the  fields  in  great  numbers — in  gangs  of  fifty,  a 
hundred,  two  hundred — these  alone  gave  an  unmistakable  welcome 
to  the  ships.  They  would  come  running  down  to  the  levee  in 
crowds,  hoe  in  hand,  and  toss  their  battered  old  hats  into  the  air, 
and  shout,  sing  and  caper  in  their  wild  picturesque  fashion.  Other 
gangs,  held  under  stronger  control,  kept  on  their  work  without  so 
much  as  looking  at  the  passing  vessels,  unless  it  might  be  that  one 
or  two  of  them,  watching  their  chance,  would  wave  a  hand  or  hat, 
and  straight  to  hoe  again. 

None  of  those  batteries  with  which  the  river  was  said  to  be 
"  lined,"  were  discovered.  At  three  o'clock  the  ships  were  off  Point 
la  nache,  which  had  been  reported  to  be  impassably  fortified.  No 
guns  were  there.  On  the  contrary,  on  a  plantation  near  by  thirty 
plows  were  going,  and  two  hundred  negroes  came  to  the  shore  in 
the  highest  glee,  to  greet  the  ships.  "Hurrah  for  Abraham,"  cried 
one.  At  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  at  a  point  eighteen  miles  be- 
low the  city,  the  fleet  came  to  anchor  for  the  night.  The  city  was 
not  more  than  half  that  distance  in  a  straight  line,  and  consequently, 
the  prodigious  volumes  of  smoke  from  the  burning  cotton  were 
12 


263  NEW    ORLEANS    WILL  NOT   SURRENDER. 

plainly  seen,  exciting  endless  speculation  in  the  minds  of  officers 
and  crew.  Perhaps  another  Moscow.  Who  knows?  Nothing 
is  too  mad  for  secesh ;  secession  itself  being  madness. 

At  midnight,  an  alarm !  Three  large  fires  ahead,  concluded  to 
be  fire-rafts.  Up  anchor,  ail!  The  vessels  cruised  cautiously 
about  in  the  river  for  an  hour  or  two ;  Captain  Farragut  not  caring 
to  venture  higher  in  an  unexplored  river,  said  to  be  lined  with  bat- 
teries. The  fires  proved  to  be  stationary ;  and  when  the  fleet  pass- 
ed them  the  next  morning,  they  were  discovered  to  be  three  large 
cotton  ships  burning — their  blockade-running  ended  thus  for  ever. 

At  Chalmette,  Jackson's  old  battle-ground,  now  but  three  miles 
below  the  city,  the  river  really  was  "  lined"  with  batteries ;  i.  e., 
there  was  a  battery  on  each  side  of  the  river,  each  mounting  eight 
or  ten  old  guns.  The  signal  to  engage  them  was  made  the  moment 
they  came  in  sight.  The  leading  ships  were  twenty  minutes  under 
fire  before  they  could  return  it ;  but  then  a  few  broadsides  of  shell 
and  grape  drove  the  unsheltered  foe  from  the  works,  with  the  loss 
of  one  man  in  the  fleet  knocked  overboard  by  the  wind  of  a  ball, 
and  our  Herald  friend  hit  with  a  splinter,  but  not  harmed.  "  It 
was  what  I  call,"  says  Captain  Farragut,  "one  of  the  little  ele- 
gancies of  the  profession — a  dash  and  a  victory." 

Round  the  bend  at  noon,  into  full  view  of  the  vast  sweep  of  the 
Crescent  City.  What  a  scene !  Fires  along  the  shore  farther  than 
the  eye  could  reach ;  the  river  full  of  burning  vessels  ;  the  levee 
lined  with  madmen,  whose  yells  and  defiant  gestures  showed 
plainly  enough  what  kind  of  welcome  awaited  the  new-comers. 
A  faint  cheer  for  the  Union,  it  is  said,  rose  from  one  part  of  the 
levee,  answered  by  a  volley  of  pistol-shots  from  the  by-standers. 
As  the  fleet  dropped  anchor  in  the  stream,  a  thunder-storm  of 
tropical  violence  burst  over  the  city,  which  dissolved  large  masses 
of  the  crowd,  and  probably  reduced,  in  some  degree,  the  frenzy  of 
those  who  remained. 

The  banks,  the  stores,  all  places  of  business  were  closed  in  the 
city.  The  mayor,  by  formal  proclamation,  had  now  invested  the 
European  Brigade,  under  General  Juge,  "  with  the  duty  of  watch- 
ing over  the  public  tranquillity ;  patrols  of  whom  should  be  treated 
writh  respect,  and  obeyed."  General  Juge  and  his  command  saved 
the  city  from  plunder  and  anarchy — probably  from  universal  con- 
flagration.    Night  and  day  they  patrolled  the  city ;  and  the  gene 


^EW  ORLEANS  WILL  NOT  SUEEENDEE.  2U9 

ral,  by  personal  entreaty  and  public  proclamation,  induced  some  of 
the  butchers  and  grocers  to  open  their  shops.  A  fear  of  starvation 
was  added  to  the  other  horrors  of  the  time ;  for  the  country 
people  feared  to  approach  the  city,  and  the  markets  were  alarm- 
ingly bare  of  provisions.  And  then  the  Confederate  currency — 
would  that  be  of  any  value  under  the  rule  of  the  United  States  ? 
"  It  is  as  good  now  as  it  ever  has  been,"  said  the  mayor,  in  one  of 
his  half-dozen  proclamations,  "  and  there  is  no  reason  to  reject  it ;" 
but  "  those  who  hold  Confederate  currency,  and  wish  to  part  with 
it,  may  have  it  exchanged  for  city  bills,  by  applying  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Safety."  Another  proclamation  called  upon  those 
who  had  carried  off  sugar  from  the  levee  to  bring  it  back  ;  another 
promised  a  free  market  and  abundant  provisions  on  Monday; 
another  desired  the  provision  dealers  to  re-open  their  stores ; 
another  urged  the  people  to  be  calm,  and  trust  the  authorities  with 
their  welfare  and  their  honor. 

At  one  o'clock,  the  fleet  was  anchored.  The  rain  was  falling  in 
torrents,  but  the  crowd  near  the  Custom-House  was  still  dense  and 
fierce,  the  rain  having  melted  away  the  softer  elements.  A  boat 
put  off  from  the  flag-ship — man-of-war's  boat,  trim  and  tidy,  crew 
in  fresh  tarpaulins  and  clean  shirts,  no  flag  of  truce  flying.  In  the 
stern  sat  three  oflicers,  Captain  Bailey,  second  in  command  of  the 
fleet,  Lieutenant  Perkins,  his  companion  in  the  errand  upon  which 
he  was  sent,  and  Acting-Master  Morton  in  charge  of  the  boat.  Just 
after  the  boat  put  off,  a  huge  thing  of  a  ram  Mississippi,  pierced 
for  twenty  guns,  a  kind  of  monster  Merrimac,  or  fortified  Noah's 
Ark,  came  floating  down  the  river  past  the  fleet,  wrapped  in  flames. 
At  another  time  the  spectacle  would  have  been  duly  honored  by 
the  fleet,  but  at  that  moment  every  eye  was  upon  Captain  Bailey's 
boat,  nearing  the  crowd  on  the  levee. 

We  all  remember  the  greeting  bestowed  upon  this  officer.  It 
was  by  no  means  that  which  a  conquered  city  usually  confers  upon 
the  conqueror.  Deafening  cheers  for  "  Jeff.  Davis  and  the  South ;" 
thundering  groans  for  "  Lincoln  and  his  fleet ;"  sudden  hustling  and 
collaring  of  two  or  three  men  who  dared  cheer  for  the  "old  flag." 
Captain  Bailey  and  Lieutenant  Perkins,  however,  stepped  01  shore, 
and  announced  their  desire  to  see  the  mayor  of  the  city.  A  few 
respectable  persons  in  the  crowd  had  the  courage  to  offer  to  con- 
duct them  to  the  City  Hall,  under  whose  escort  the  oflicers  starred 


270  NEW    ORLEANS    WILL   NOT   SURRENDER. 

on  their  perilous  journey,  followed  and  surrounded  by  a  yelling,  in- 
furiated multitude,  regardless  of  the  pouring  rain.  "  No  violence," 
says  a  Delta  reporter,  "  was  offered  to  the  officers,  though  certain 
persons  who  were  suspected  of  favoring  their  flag  and  cause  were 
set  upon  with  great  fury,  and  roughly  handled.  On  arriving  at  the 
City  Hall,  it  required  the  intervention  of  several  citizens  to  prevent 
violence  being  offered  to  the  rash  embassadors  of  an  execrated  dy- 
nasty and  government." 

Mayor  Monroe  is  a  gentleman  of  slight  form  and  short  stature ; 
he  was  not  equal  to  the  exceedingly  perplexing  situation  in  which 
he  found  himself.  Supported,  however,  by  the  presence  of  several 
of  the  "  city  fathers,"  as  he  styled  them,  and  aided  by  the  talents 
of  Mr.  Soule,  he  performed  his  part  in  the  curious  interview  with 
tolerable  dignity.  While  the  colloquy  proceeded,  the  City  Hall 
was  surrounded  by  an  ever  growing  crowd,  whose  cheers  for  Jeff. 
Davis  and  groans  for  "  Abe  Lincoln"  served  as  loud  accompaniment 
to  the  mild  discord  within  the  building.  Captain  Bailey  and  his 
companion  were  duly  presented  to  the  mayor,  and  courteous  salu- 
tations were  exchanged  between  them. 

"  I  have  been  sent,"  said  the  captain,  "  by  Captain  Farragut, 
commanding  the  United  States  fleet,  to  demand  the  surrender  of 
the  city,  and  the  elevation  of  the  flag  of  the  United  States  over  the 
Custom-House,  the  Mint,  the  Post-Office,  and  the  City  Hall." 

"  I  am  not,"  replied  the  mayor,  "  the  military  commander  of  the 
city.  I  have  no  authority  to  surrender  it,  and  would  not  do  so  if  I 
had.  There  is  a  military  commander  now  in  the  city.  I  will  send 
for  him  to  receive  and  reply  to  your  demand." 

A  messenger  was  accordingly  dispatched  for  General  Lovell, 
who,  though  he  had  sent  off  his  troops,  remained  in  the  town,  a 
train  waiting  with  steam  up  to  convey  him  and  his  staff  to  camp. 

Polite  conversation  ensued  between  the  officers  and  the  gentle- 
men in  the  office  of  the  mayor,  with  fitful  yell  accompaniment  from 
the  outside  crowd.  The  officers  praised  with  warm  sincerity  the 
stout  defense  made  by  the  forts,  and  the  headlong  valor  with  which 
the  rebel  fleet  had  hurled  itself  against  the  Union  ships.  Captain 
Bailey  regretted  the  wholesale  destruction  of  property  in  the  city, 
and  said  that  Captain  Farragut  deplored  it  no  less  than  himself. 
To  this  the  mayor  replied,  not  with  the  courtesy  of  his  monitor, 
Mr.  Soule,  that  the  property  being  their  owe,  the  destruction  of  it 


NEW    ORLEANS    WILL   NOT   SURRENDER.  271 

did  not  concern  outsiders.  Captain  Bailey  remarked  that  it  looked 
to  him  like  biting  off  your  nose  to  spite  your  face.  The  mayor  in- 
timated that  he  took  a  different  view  of  the  subject. 

Cheers  from  the  mob  announced  the  arrival  of  General  Lovell, 
who  soon  entered  the  office.     The  officers  were  presented  to  him. 

"  I  am  General  Lovell,"  said  he,  "  of  the  army  of  the  Confederate 
States,  commanding  this  department." 

Whereupon  he  shook  hands  with  the  Union  officers.  Captain 
Bailey  repeated  the  demand  with  which  he  had  been  charged,  add- 
ing that  he  was  instructed  by  Captain  Farragut  to  say,  that  he 
had  come  to  protect  private  property  and  personal  rights,  and  had 
no  design  to  interfere  with  any  private  rights,  and  especially  not 
with  negro  property. 

General  Lovell  replied  that  he  would  not  surrender  the  city, 
nor  allow  it  to  be  surrendered  ;  that  he  was  overpowered  on  the 
water  by  a  superior  squadron,  but  that  he  intended  to  fight  on  land 
as  long  as  he  could  muster  a  soldier ;  he  had  marched  all  of  his 
armed  men  out  of  the  city ;  had  evacuated  it;  and  if  they  desired  to 
shell  the  town,  destroying  women  and  children,  they  could  do  so. 
Tt  was  to  avoid  this  that  he  had  marched  his  troops  beyond  the 
city  limits,  but  a  large  number  even  of  the  women  of  the  city 
had  begged  him  to  remain  and  defend  the  city  even  against  shell- 
ing. He  did  not  think  he  would  be  justified  in  doing  so.  He 
would  therefore  retire  and  leave  the  city  authorities  to  pursue  what 
course  they  should  think  proper. 

Captain  Bailey  said,  that  nothing  was  farther  from  Captain  Far- 
ragut's  thoughts  than  to  shell  a  defenseless  town  filled  with  women 
and  children.  On  the  contrary,  he  had  no  hostile  intentions  to- 
ward Xew  Orleans,  and  regretted  extremely  the  destruction  of 
property  that  had  already  occurred. 

"  It  was  done  by  my  authority  sir,"  interrupted  General  Lovell. 
He  might  have  added  that  his  own  cotton  was  the  first  to  be  fired. 

It  was  then  concluded  that  the  Union  officers  should  return  to 
the  fleet,  and  the  mayor  would  lay  the  matter  before  the  common 
council,  and  report  the  result  to  Captain  Farragut.  Captain  Bailey 
requested  protection  during  their  return  to  the  levee,  the  crowd 
being  evidently  in  no  mood  to  allow  their  peaceful  departure.  The 
general  detailed  two  of  his  officers  to  accompany  them,  and  went 
himself  to  harangue  the  multitude.     Mr.  Soule  also  addressed  the 


2  72  NEW   ORLEANS   WILL  NOT   SURRENDER. 

people,  counseling  moderation  and  dignity.  The  naval  officers 
meanwhile  were  conducted  to  the  rear  of  the  building,  where  a  car- 
riage was  procured  for  them,  and  they  were  driven  rapidly  to  their 
boat.  The  crew  were  infinitely  relieved  by  their  arrival,  for  during 
the  long  period  of  their  absence,  the  crowd  had  assailed  them  with 
every  epithet  of  abuse,  to  which  the  only  possible  reply  was  silence. 
The  officers  stepped  on  board,  and  were  soon  alongside  of  the  flag- 
ship, the  parting  yell  of  the  mob  still  ringing  in  their  ears.  At  the 
same  time  General  Lovell  was  making  his  way  to  the  cars,  and  was 
seen  in  New  Orleans  no  more. 

Captain  Farragut  was  a  little  amused  and  very  much  puzzled  at 
the  singular  position  in  which  he  found  himself.  There  was  nothing 
further  to  be  done,  however,  until  he  heard  from  the  mayor.  All 
hands  were  tired  out.  New  Orleans,  too,  was  exhausted  with  the 
excitement  of  the  last  three  days.  So,  both  the  fleet  and  the  city 
enjoyed  a  night  more  tranquil  than  either  had  known  for  some 
time.  "  The  city  was  as  peaceful  and  quiet  as  a  country  hamlet — 
much  quieter  than  in  ordinary  times,"  said  the  Picayune  the  next 
morning. 

April  26th,  Saturday,  at  half-past  six,  a  boat  from  shore  reached 
the  flag-ship,  containing  the  mayor's  secretary  and  chief  of  police, 
bearers  of  a  message  from  the  mayor.  The  mayor  said  the  common 
council  would  meet  at  ten  that  morning,  the  result  of  whose  deliber- 
ations should  be  promptly  submitted  to  Captain  Farragut.  The 
captain,  not  relishing  the  delay,  still  less  the  events  of  yesterday, 
sent  a  letter  to  the  mayor  recapitulating  those  events,  and  again 
stating  his  determination  to  respect  private  rights.  "  I,  therefore, 
demand  of  you,"  said  the  flag-officer,  "  as  its  representative,  the  un- 
qualified surrender  of  the  city,  and  that  the  emblem  of  the  sove- 
reignty of  the  United  States  be  hoisted  over  the  City  Hall,  Mint 
and  Custom-House,  by  meridian  this  day,  and  all  flags  and  other 
emblems  of  sovereignty  other  than  that  of  the  United  States  bo 
removed  from  all  the  public  buildings  by  that  hour.  I  particularity 
request  that  you  shall  exercise  your  authority  to  quell  disturbance: , 
restore  order,  and  call  upon  all  the  good  people  of  New  Orleans  to 
return  at  once  to  their  avocations ;  and  I  particularly  demand  that  no 
person  shall  be  molested  in  person  or  property  for  sentiments  of  loy- 
alty to  their  government.  I  shall  speedily  and  severely  punish  any 
person  or  persons  who  shall  commit  such  outrages  as  were  witnessed 


NEW    ORLEANS   WILL   NOT  SURRENDER.  273 

yesterday,  of  armed  men  firing  upon  helpless  women  and  children 
for  giving  expression  to  their  pleasure  at  witnessing  the  '  old  flag."' 

This  demand  of  Captain  Farragut,  that  the  enemy  should  them- 
selves hoist  the  Union  flag,  gave  the  mayor,  aided  by  Mr.  Soule,  an 
opportunity  to  make  an  advantageous  reply. 

The  common  council  met  in  the  course  of  the  morning.  Besides 
relating  the  interview  with  Captain  Bailey,  the  mayor  favored  the 
council  with  his  opinion  upon  the  same.  "  My  own  opinion  is," 
said  he,  "that  as  a  civil  magistrate,  possessed  of  no  military  power, 
I  am  incompetent  to  perform  a  military  act,  such  as  the  surrender 
of  the  city  to  a  hostile  force ;  that  it  would  be  proper  to  say,  in  re- 
ply to  a  demand  of  that  character,  that  we  are  without  military 
protection,  that  the  troops  have  withdrawn  from  the  city,  that  we 
are  consequently  incapable  of  making  any  resistance,  and  that, 
therefore,  we  can  offer  no  obstruction  to  the  occupation  of  the  Mint, 
the  Custom-House  and  the  Post-Office ;  that  these  are  the  property 
of  the  Confederate  government ;  that  we  have  no  control  over  them; 
and  that  all  acts  involving  a  transfer  of  property  must  be  performed 
by  the  invading  force — by  the  enemy  themselves ;  that  we  yield  to 
physical  force  alone,  and  that  we  maintain  our  allegiance  to  the 
Confederate  government.  Beyond  this,  a  due  respect  for  our  dig- 
nity, our  rights,  and  the  flag  of  our  country,  does  not,  I  think,  per- 
mit us  to  go." 

Upon  receiving  this  message,  the  common  council  unanimously 
adopted  the  following  resolutions : 

"  Whereas,  the  common  council  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  hav- 
ing been  advised  by  the  military  authorities  that  the  city  is  inde- 
fensible, declare  that  no  resistance  will  be  made  to  the  forces  of  the 
United  States ; 

"  Resolved,  That  the  sentiments  expressed  in  the  message  of  his 
honor  the  mayor  to  the  common  council,  are  in  perfect  accordance 
with  the  sentiments  entertained  by  the  entire  population  of  this 
metropolis  ;  and  that  the  mayor  be  respectfully  requested  to  act  in 
the  spirit  manifested  by  the  message." 

•  While  waiting  for  the  deliberations  of  the  council,  Captain  Farra- 
gut went  up  the  river,  seven  miles,  to  Carrollton,  where  batteries 
had  been  erected  to  defend  the  city  from  an  attack  from  above. 
He  found  them  deserted,  the  guns  spiked,  and  the  gun-carriages 
burning. 


274  NEW    ORLEANS   WILL    NOT   SURRENDER. 

April  27th,  Sunday. — An  eventful  day;  to  one  unhappy  man,  a 
fatal  day.  The  early  morning  brought  the  mayor's  reply  to  Cap- 
tain Farragut:  "I  am  no  military  man,  and  possess  no  authority 
beyond  that  of  executing  the  municipal  laws  of  the  city  of  New 
Orleans.  It  would  be  presumptuous  in  me  to  attempt  to  lead  an 
army  to  the  field,  if  I  had  one  at  command ;  and  I  know  still  less 
how  to  surrender  an  undefended  place,  held,  as  this  is,  at  the  mercy 
of  your  gunners  and  your  mortars.  To  surrender  such  a  place 
were  an  idle  and  unmeaning  ceremony.  The  city  is  yours  by  the 
power  of  brutal  force,  not  by  my  choice  or  the  consent  of  its  in- 
habitants. It  is  for  you  to  determine  what  will  be  the  fate  that 
awaits  us  here.  As  to  hoisting  any  flag  not  of  our  own  adoption 
and  allegiance,  let  me  say  to  you  that  the  man  lives  not  in  our 
midst  whose  hand  and  heart  would  not  be  paralyzed  at  the  mere 
thought  of  such  an  act ;  nor  could  I  find  in  my  entire  constituency 
so  desperate  and  wretched  a  renegade  as  would  dare  to  profane 
with  his  hand  the  sacred  emblem  of  our  aspirations."  With  more 
of  similar  purport.  The  substance  of  the  mayor's  meaning  seemed 
to  be :  "  Come  on  shore  and  hoist  what  flags  you  please.  Don't 
ask  us  to  do  your  flag-raising."  A  rather  good  reply — in  the  sub- 
stance of  it.  Slightly  impudent,  perhaps  ;  but  men  who  are  talk- 
ing from  behind  a  bulwark  of  fifty  thousand  women  and  children, 
can  be  impudent  if  they  please. 

The  commander  of  the  fleet  refused  to  confer  farther  with  the 
mayor;  but,  with  regard  to  the  flag-hoisting,  determined  to  take 
him  at  his  word.  Captain  Morris,  of  the  Pensacola,  the  ship  that 
lay  off  the  Mint,  was  ordered  to  send  a  party  ashore,  and  hoist  the 
flag  of  the  United  States  upon  that  edifice.  At  eight  in  the  morn- 
ing, the  stars  and  stripes  floated  over  it  once  more.  The  officer 
commanding  the  party  warned  the  by-standers  that  the  guns  of  the 
Pensacola  would  certainly  open  fire  upon  the  building  if  any  one 
should  be  seen  molesting  the  flag.  Without  leaving  a  guard  to 
protect  it,  he  returned  to  his  ship,  and  the  howitzers  in  the  main- 
top of  the  Pensacola,  loaded  with  grape,  were  aimed  at  the  flag- 
staif,  and  the  guard  ordered  to  fire  the  moment  any  one  should 
attempt  to  haul  down  the  flag.  I  think  it  was  an  error  to  leave 
the  flag  unprotected.  A  company  of  marines  could  have  kept  the 
mob  at  bay ;  would  have  prevented  the  shameful  scenes  that  fol- 
lowed. 


XEW    ORLEANS    WILL   NOT    SURRENDER.  »275 

At  eleven  o'clock,  the  crews  of  all  the  ships  were  assembled 
on  deck  for  prayers :  "  to  render  thanks,"  as  the  order  ran,  "  to 
Almighty  God  for  His  great  goodness  and  mercy  in  permitting  us 
to  pass  through  the  events  of  the  last  two  days  with  so  little  loss 
of  life  and  blood."  As  the  clouds  threatened  rain,  the  gunner  of 
the  Pensacola,  just  before  taking  his  place  for  the  ceremony, 
removed  from  the  guns  the  "  wafers"  by  which  they  are  discharged. 
One  look-out  man  was  left  in  the  main-top,  who  held  the  strings  of 
the  howitzers  in  his  hand,  and  kept  a  sharp  eye  upon  the  flag-staff 
of  the  Mint.  The  solemn  service  proceeded  for  twenty  minutes, 
with  such  emotions  on  the  part  of  those  brave  men  as  may  be  ima- 
gined, not  related. 

A  discharge  from  the  howitzers  overhead,  startled  the  crew  from 
their  devotions!  They  rushed  to  quarters.  Every  eye  sought  the 
flag-staff  of  the  Mint.  Four  men  were  seen  on  the  roof  of  the  build- 
ing, who  tore  down  the  flag,  hurried  away  with  it,  and  disappeared. 
Without  orders,  by  an  impulse  of  the  moment,  the  cords  of  the 
guns  all  along  the  broadside  were  snatched  at  by  eager  hands. 
Nothing  but  the  chance  removal  of  the  wafers  saved  the  city  from  a 
fearful  scene  of  destruction  and  slaughter.  The  exasperation  of 
the  fleet  at  this  audacious  act,  was  such  that,  at  the  moment,  an 
order  to  shell  the  town  would  have  seemed  a  natural  and  proper 
one. 

New  Orleans  hailed  it  with  vociferous  acclamations.  a  The  names 
of  the  party,"  said  the  Picayune  of  the  next  morning,  "  that  dis- 
tinguished themselves  by  gallantly  tearing  down  the  flag  that  had 
been  surreptitiously  hoisted,  we  learn,  are  W.  B.  Mumford,  who 
cut  it  loose  from  the  flag-staff  amid  the  showier  of  grape,  Lieuten- 
ant N.  Holmes,  Sergeant  Burns  and  James  Reed.  They  deserve 
great  credit  for  their  patriotic  act.  New  Orleans,  in  this  hour 
of  adversity,  by  the  calm  dignity  she  displays  in  the  presence 
of  the  enemy,  by  the  proof  she  gives  of  her  unflinching  deter- 
mination to  sustain  to  the  uttermost  the  righteous  cause  for 
which  she  has  done  so  much  and  made  such  great  sacrifices, 
by  her  serene  endurance  undismayed  of  the  evil  which  afflicts 
her,  and  her  abiding  confidence  in  the  not  distant  coming  of 
better  and  brighter  days — of  speedy  deliverance  from  the  ene- 
my's toils — is  showing  a  bright  example  to  her  sister  cities,  and 
proving  herself,  in  all  respects,  worthy  of  the  proud  position 
12* 


276  NEW    ORLEANS    WILL   NOT   SURRENDER. 

she  has  achieved.     We  glory  in  being  a  citizen  of  this  great  me- 
tropolis." 

"  Calm  dignity !"  quotha  ?  The  four  men  having  secured  their 
prize,  trailed  it  in  the  mud  of  the  streets  amid  the  yells  of  the  mob ; 
mounted  with  it  upon  a  furniture  car  and  paraded  it  about  the  city 
with  fife  and  drum ;  tore  it,  at  last,  into  shreds,  and  distributed  the 
pieces  among  the  crowd.  Such  was  the  calm  dignity  of  New  Or- 
leans. Such  the  valor  of  ruffians  protected  by  a  rampart  of  fifty 
thousand  women  and  children. 

Captain  Farragut  was  equally  indignant  and  embarrassed.  Sel- 
dom has  a  naval  commander  found  himself  in  a  position  so  beset 
with  contradictions — defied  and  insulted  by  a  town  that  lay  at  his 
mercy.  A  few  hours  after  these  events,  General  Butler  arrived  to 
share  the  exasperation  of  the  fleet  and  join  in  the  counsels  of  its 
chief.  He  advised  the  captain  to  threaten  the  city  with  bom- 
bardment, and  to  order  away  the  women  and  children.  Captain 
Farragut,  in  part,  adopted  the  measure,  and  sent  a  communication 
to  the  mayor  warning  him  of  the  peril  which  the  city  incurred  by 
such  scenes  as  those  of  Sunday  morning.  He  informed  him  of  the 
danger  of  drawing  from  the  fleet  a  destructive  fire,  by  the  spon- 
taneous action  of  the  men.  "  The  election  is  with  you,"  he  con- 
cluded, "but  it  becomes  my  duty  to  notify  you  to  remove  the 
women  and  children  from  the  city  within  forty-eight  hours,  if  I 
have  rightly  understood  your  determination."  The  authorities  of 
the  city  chose  to  interpret  this  note  as  a  formal  announcement  of  a 
bombardment  at  the  expiration  of  the  specified  period.  So,  at  least, 
they  represented  it  to  Captain  De  Clouet,  commanding  a  French 
man  of  war  which  had  just  arrived  before  the  city.  That  officer 
thought  it  his  duty  to  demand  a  longer  time  for  the  removal  of  the 
women  and  children.  "Sent  by  my  government,"  he  wrote  to 
Captain  Farragut,  "  to  protect  the  persons  and  property  of  its  citi- 
zens, who  are  here  to  the  number  of  thirty  thousand,  I  regret  to 
learn  at  this  moment  that  you  have  accorded  a  delay  of  forty-eight 
hours  for  the  evacuation  of  the  city  by  the  women  and  children. 
I  venture  to  observe  to  you  that  this  short  delay  is  ridiculous ;  and, 
in  the  name  of  my  government,  I  oppose  it.  If  it  is  your  resolu- 
tion to  bombard  the  city,  do  it;  but  I  wish  to  state  that  you  will 
have  to  account  for  the  barbarous  act  to  the  power  which  I  repre- 
sent.   In  any  event,  I  demand  sixty  days  for  the  evacuation." 


NlBW    ORLEANS    WILL   NOT    SURRENDER.  277 

Captain  Farragut  and  General  Butler  had  visited  Captain  De 
Clouet  on  his  arrival,  and  had  received  from  him  polite  congratula- 
tions upon  the  success  of  the  expedition.  It  was  no  fault  of  his 
that  Captain  Farragut's  notification  was  so  egregiously  misunder- 
stood. 

General  Butler  meanwhile  perceiving  that  light-draft  steamers 
were  not  to  be  had,  and  that  nothing  effectual  could  be  done  with- 
out landing  a  force  in  the  city,  hastened  down  the  river  to  attempt 
the  reduction  of  the  forts  with  such  means  as  he  could  command. 
Before  leaving,  however,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  receiving  the 
spy,  engaged  at  Washington  many  weeks  before,  who  had  escaped 
in  the  confusion,  and  brought  full  details  of  the  condition  of  the 
city.  Mr.  Summers,  too,  once  recorder  of  New  Orleans,  fled  on 
board  one  of  the  ships  from  the  violence  of  a  mob  in  whose  hearing 
he  had  declared  his  attachment  to  the  Union.  A  lady,  also,  came 
off,  and  delivered  a  paper  of  intelligence  and  congratulation. 

On  his  way  down  the  river,  General  Butler  met  the  glad  tidings 
of  the  surrender  of  the  forts,  and  had  the  pleasure,  on  the  28th,  of 
walking  over  them  with  Captain  Porter  among  the  joyful  troops. 
Colonel  Jones,  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Massachusetts,  was  appointed  to 
command  the  garrison,  and  Lieutenant  Weitzel  began  forthwith  to 
put  the  forts  in  repair.  All  the  rest  of  the  troops  were  ordered  up  the 
river  with  the  utmost  speed.  General  Phelps  was  already  at  the 
forts,  and  the  transports  from  Sable  Island  were  making  their  way 
under  General  Williams  to  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

The  nev/s  of  the  surrender  of  the  forts,  which  reached  the  fleet 
on  Monday,  relieved  Captain  Farragut  from  embarrassment.  He 
could  now  afford  to  wait,  if  New  Orleans  could,  though  the  fleet, 
still  beheld  with  impatience  the  flauntings  of  the  rebel  flags.  Gen- 
eral Duncan,  that  day,  harangued  the  crowd  upon  the  levee,  declar- 
ing, "  with  tears  in  his  eyes,"  that  nothing  but  the  mutiny  of  part 
of  his  command  could  have  induced  him  to  surrender.  But  for 
that,  he  could  and  would  have  held  out  for  months.  "  He  cried 
like  a  child,"  says  one  report.  The  tone  of  the  authorities  appeared 
to  be  somewhat  lowered  by  the  news.  They  dared  not  formally 
disclaim  the  exploit  of  Mumford  and  his  comrades ;  but  Captain 
Farragut  was  privately  assured  that  the  removal  of  the  flag  from 
the  Mint  was  the  unauthorized  act  of  a  few  individuals.  On  the 
29th,  Captain  Bell,  with  a  hundred  marines,  landed  on  the  levee, 


278  NEW    ORLEANS   WILL  NOT   SURRENDER. 

marched  into  the  city,  hauled  down  the  Confederate  flag  from  the 
Mint  and  Custom-House,  and  hoisted  in  its  stead  the  flag  of  the 
United  States.  Captain  Bell  locked  the  Custom-House  and  took  the 
keys  to  his  ship.  These  flags  remained,  though  the  marines  were 
withdrawn  before  evening. 

The  work  of  the  European  Brigade  was  approaching  a  conclu- 
sion. The  portion  of  it  called  the  British  Guard,  composed  of  un- 
naturalized Englishmen — unnatural  Englishmen,  rather — voted  at 
their  armory,  a  day  or  two  after,  to  send  their  weapons,  accouter- 
ments  and  uniforms  to  General  Beauregard's  army,  as  a  slight  token 
of  their  affection  for  the  Confederate  States.  Some  of  these  u  neu- 
tral" gentlemen  had  occasion  to  regret  this  step  before  the  month 
of  May  was  ended. 

There  was  a  general  coming  up  the  river,  who  had  the  peculiar 
ity  of  feeling  toward  the  rebellion  that  the  rebel  leaders  felt  toward 
the  government  they  had  betrayed.  He  hated  it.  He  meant  to  do 
his  part  toward  putting  it  down  by  the  strong  hand,  not  conciliating 
it  by  insincere  palaver.  The  reader  is  requested  to  bear  in  mind 
this  peculiarity,  for  it  is  the  key  to  the  understanding  of  General 
Butler's  administration.  Consider  always  that  his  attachment  to 
the  Union  and  the  flag  was  of  the  same  intense  and  uncompro- 
mising nature,  as  the  devotion  of  South  Carolinians  to  the  cause  of 
the  Confederacy.  His  was  indeed  a  nobler  devotion,  but  in  mere 
warmth  and  entireness,  it  resembled  the  zeal  of  secessionists.  He 
meant  well  to  the  people  of  Louisiana ;  he  did  well  by  them ;  but 
it  was  his  immovable  resolve  that  the  ruling  power  in  Louisiana 
henceforth  should  be  the  United  States,  which  had  bought,  de- 
fended, protected,  and  enriched  it.  Think  what  secessionists  would 
have  done  in  ISTew  Orleans,  if  it  had  remained  true  to  the  Union, 
and  fallen  into  their  hands  in  the  second  year  of  the  war.  That 
General  Butler  did ;  only,  with  exactest  justice,  with  ideal  purity ; 
employing  all  right  methods  of  conciliation ;  rigorous  only  to  secure 
the  main  object — the  absolute,  the  unquestioned  supremacy  of  the 
United  States. 


LANDING   IN   NEW    ORLEANS.  2<9 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

LANDING   IN  NEW    ORLEANS. 

The  troops  had  a  joyful  trip  up  the  river  among  the  verdant 
sugar-fields,  welcomed,  as  the  fleet  had  been,  by  capering  negroes. 
The  transport  Mississippi,  with  her  old  complement  of  fourteen 
hundred  men,  and  Mrs.  Butler  on  the  quarter-deck,  hove  in  sight 
of  the  forts  at  sunset  on  the  last  day  of  April.  The  forts  were  cov- 
ered all  over  with  blue-coated  soldiers,  who  paused  in  their  investi- 
tures to  cheer  the  arriving  vessels,  and,  especially,  the  Lady  who 
had  borne  them  company  in  so  many  perils.  It  was  an  animated 
and  glorious  scene,  illumined  by  the  setting  sun ;  one  of  those  in- 
toxicating moments  which  repay  soldiers  for  months  of  fatigue 
and  waiting.  The  general  came  on  board,  and,  at  midnight,  the 
transport  steamers  started  for  the  city.  At  noon  on  the  1st  of  May, 
the  Mississippi  lay  alongside  the  levee  at  New  Orleans. 

A  crowd  rapidly  gathered ;  but  it  was  by  no  means  as  turbulent 
or  noisy  as  that  which  had  howled  at  Captain  Bailey  five  days  be- 
fore. There  were  women  among  them,  many  of  whom  appeared  to 
be  nurses  carrying  children.  Mulatto  women  with  baskets  of  cakes 
and  oranges  were  also  seen.  Voices  were  frequently  heard  calling 
for  "  Picayune  Butler,"  who  was  requested  to  "  show  himself,"  and 
"  come  ashore."  The  general,  who  is  fond  of  a  joke,  requested 
Major  Strong  to  ascertain  if  any  of  the  bands  could  play  the  lively 
melody  to  which  the  mob  had  called  his  attention.  Unluckily, 
none  of  the  bandmasters  possessed  the  music ;  so  the  general  was 
obliged  to  forego  his  joke,  and  fall  back  upon  Yankee  Doodle  and 
the  Star  Spangled  Banner.  Others  of  the  crowd  cried:  "You'll 
never  see  home  again."  u  Yellow  Jack  will  have  you  before  long." 
"  Halloo,  epaulets,  lend  us  a  picayune."  With  divers  other  remarks 
of  a  chafing  nature,  alternating  with  maledictions. 

General  Butler  waited  upon  Captain  Farragut,  and  heard  a  nar- 
rative of  recent  events.  The  general  announced  his  determination 
to  land  forthwith,  and  Captain  Farragut  notified  the  mayor  of  this 
resolve ;  adding  that  he  should  hold  no  farther  correspondence  with 


280  LANDING   IN   NEW    ORLEANS. 

the  authorities  of  New  Orleans,  but  gladly  yielded  the  situation  to 
the  commander  of  the  army.  Returning  to  the  Mississippi,  General 
Butler  directed  the  immediate  disembarkation  of  the  troops,*  and 
the  operation  began  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  A  com- 
pany of  the  Thirty-first  Massachusetts  landed  on  the  extensive  plat- 
form raised  above  the  levee  for  the  convenient  loading  of  cotton, 
and,  forming  a  line,  slowly  pressed  back  the  crowd,  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet,  until  space  enough  was  obtained  for  the  regiments  to 
form.  When  the  Thirty-first  had  all  landed,  they  marched  down 
the  cotton  platform  to  the  levee,  and  along  the  levee  to  De  Lord 
street,  where  they  halted.  The  Fourth  Wisconsin  was  then  dis- 
embarked, after  which  the  procession  was  formed  in  the  order  fol- 
lowing : 

First,  as  pioneer  and  guide,  marched  Lieutenant  Henry  Weigel, 
of  Baltimore,  aid  to  the  general,  who  was  familiar  with  the  streets 
of  the  city,  and  now  rose  from  a  sick  bed  to  claim  the  fulfillment 
of  General  Butler's  promise  that  he,  and  he  only,  should  guide  the 
troops  to  the  Custom-House. 

Next,  the  drum-corps  of  the  Thirty-first  Massachusetts.  Behind 
these,  General  Butler  and  his  staff  on  foot,  no  horses  having  yet 
been  landed,  a  file  of  the  Thirty-first  marching  on  each  side  of 
them.  Then  Captain  Everett's  battery  of  artillery,  with  whom 
marched  Captain  Kensel,  chief  of  artillery  to  the  expedition.  The 
Thirty-first  followed,  under  Colonel  O.  P.  Gooding.  Next,  General 
Williams  and  his  staff",  preceded  by  the  fine  band  of  the  Fourth 
Wisconsin,  and  followed  by  that  regiment  under  Colonel  Paine. 
The  same  orders  were  given  as  on  the  march  into  Baltimore :  si- 
lence ;  no  notice  to  be  taken  of  mere  words ;  if  a  shot  were  fired 
from  a  house,  halt,  arrest  inmates,  destroy  house ;  if  fired  upon  from 
the  crowd,  arrest  the  man  if  possible,  but  not  fire  into  the  crowd 

*  "Head-quarters  Department  of  tiie  Gulf. 
"  New  Orleans,  May  1, 1S62. 
"General  Order  No.  15. 

"I.  In  anticipation  of  the  immediate  disembarkation  of  the  troops  of  this  command  amid  the 
temptations  and  inducements  of  a  large  city,  all  plundering  of  public  or  private  property,  by  any 
person  or  persons,  is  hereby  forbidden,  under  the  severest  penalties. 

"II.  No  officer  or  soldier  will  absent  himself  from  his  station  without  arms  or  alone,  under  any 
pretext  whatever. 

"III.  The  commanders  of  regiments  and  companies  will  be  held  responsible  for  the  strict  exe- 
cution of  these  orders,  and  that  the  offenders  are  brought  to  punishment 

'•  By  command  of  Major-General  Butleb. 

"  Geo.  C.  Strong,  A.  A.  General." 


LANDING   IN  NEW    ORLEANS.  281 

unless  absolutely  necessary  for  self-defense,  and  then  not  without 
orders. 

At  five  the  procession  moved,  to  the  music  of  the  Star  Spangled 
Banner.  The  crowd  surged  along  the  pavements  on  each  side  of 
the  troops,  struggling  chiefly  to  get  a  sight  of  the  general ;  crying 
out :  "  Where  is  the  d — d  rascal  ?"  "  There  he  goes,  G — d  d — n 
him  !"  "I  see  the  d — d  old  villain !"  To  which  were  added  such 
outcries,  as  "  Shiloh,"  "Bull  Run,"  "Hurrah  for  Beauregard;" 
u  Go  home,  you  d — d  Yankees."  From  some  windows,  a  mild  hiss 
was  bestowed  upon  the  troops,  who  marched  steadily  on,  looking 
neither  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left.  The  general,  not  having 
a  musical  ear,  was  observed  to  be  chiefly  anxious  upon  the  point 
of  keeping  step  to  the  music — a  feat  that  had  never  become  easy 
to  him,  often  as  he  had  attempted  it  in  the  streets  of  Lowell.  And 
so  they  marched ;  along  the  levee  to  Poydras  street ;  Poydras 
street  to  St.  Charles  street ;  past  the  famous  hotel,  closed  and  de- 
serted now,  though  alive  with  five  hundred  inmates  three  days  be- 
fore; along  St.  Charles  street  to  Canal  street  and  the  Custom- 
House — that  vast,  unfinished,  roofless  structure,  upon  which  the 
United  States  had  expended  so  many  millions,  one  Beauregard 
being  engineer. 

The  troops  surrounded  the  edifice ;  Captain  Kensel  posted  his 
artillery,  so  as  to  command  the  adjacent  streets  ;  and  the  general 
ordered  the  Thirty-first  to  enter  and  occupy  the  building.  But 
Captain  Bell  had  locked  the  door  and  put  the  key  into  his  pocket. 
The  door  was  forced,  therefore,  and  by  six  o'clock,  the  Thirty-first 
was  lodged  in  the  second  story,  making  preparations  for  the  even- 
ing meal.  Strong  guards  were  posted  at  all  needful  points.  The 
general  and  his  staff  then  returned  to  the  levee,  and  went  on  board 
the  Mississippi  for  the  night.  The  Twelfth  Connecticut,  Colonel 
Deming,  bivouacked  upon  the  levee  near  the  ship,  happy  to  lie  down 
once  more  under  the  stars,  after  being  so  long  huddled  in  a  trans- 
port ship.  The  evening  was  warm  and  serene,  and  the  city  was 
again  as  still  as  a  country  hamlet.  General  Phelps  came  on  shore 
at  twilight,  and  walked  about  the  city  unattended  and  unmolested. 
Nay,  he  reported  that  the  people  whom  he  had  spoken  to,  answered 
his  inquiries  with  politeness,  despite  his  uniform.  "You  didn't 
mention  your  name  ;  did  you,  General  ?"  asked  an  officer.  "  No," 
replied  he,  laughing ;  "  no  one  asked  it." 


282  LANDING   IN   NEW    OELEANS. 

That  evening,  General  Butler  having  put  the  finishing  touches  to 
his  proclamation,  sent  two  officers  of  his  staff  to  the  office  of  the 
True  Delta,  to  get  it  printed  as  a  hand-bill.  He  forbore  to  de- 
mand its  insertion  in  the  paper,  unwilling  to  bring  upon  any  one 
establishment  the  odium  that  its  insertion  could  not  but  excite.  In 
all  ways,  he  was  for  trying  the  suaviter  in  moclo,  before  resort- 
ing to  the  fortiter  in  re.  The  officers  reached  the  office  at  ten, 
after  the  proprietor  and  editors  had  gone  home.  The  foreman  in 
charge  replied,  that  in  the  absence  of  the  proprietor,  the  document 
could  not  be  printed.  The  officers  returned  to  the  ship,  reported, 
and  received  farther  orders.  At  eight  the  next  morning,  the  same 
officers  were  again  at  the  office  of  the  True  Delta,  where  they 
found  the  chief  proprietor,  and  repeated  their  request. 

No;  the  True  Delta  office  could  not  think  of  printing  General 
Butler's  proclamation. 

The  officers  quietly  intimated  that,  in  that  case,  they  would  be 
under  the  painful  necessity  of  seizing  the  office,  and  using  the  ma- 
terials therein  for  the  purpose  of  printing  it.  The  proprietor  ob- 
jected. He  said  that  the  selection  of  his  establishment  for  the 
printing  of  such  a  manuscript,  was  invidious  and  unjust ;  it  looked 
as  if  the  design  was  to  make  him  and  his  colleagues  obnoxious  and 
loathsome  to  their  fellow-citizens.  "  I  can  not  resist,"  said  he,  "  the 
seizure  of  the  office,  but,  under  no  circumstances,  shall  it  be  used 
for  the  purpose  designated,  with  my  approval  or  consent." 

The  officers  bowed  and  retired.  After  two  hours'  absence,  they 
returned  with  a  file  of  soldiers,  armed  and  equipped,  who  drew  up 
before  the  building.  Half  a  dozen  of  them  entered  the  printing- 
office,  where  they  laid  aside  their  weapons  of  Avar,  and  took  up  the 
peaceful  implements  of  their  trade.  The  proclamation  was  soon  in 
type,  and  a  few  copies  printed  ;  enough  for  the  general's  immediate 
purpose.  The  proprietor  himself  testified,  in  the  paper  of  the  next 
day,  that  the  troops  effected  their  purpose  and  retired,  "  without 
offering  any  offense  in  language  or  behavior,  or  manifesting  the 
least  desire  to  interfere  with  the  regular  business  of  the  office,  or  to 
injure  er  derange  its  property."  It  would  have  been  better  if  he  could 
have  refrained  from  other  comment.  But  he  did  not.  He  added : 
"  As  this  first  step  of  the  commander  of  the  federal  troops  in  pos- 
session of  this  city  is  indicative  of  a  determination,  on  his  part,  to 
subject  us  to  a  supervision  utterly  subversive  of  the  character  of 


LANDING   IN   NEW    ORLEANS.  283 

fearless  patriotism  which  the  True  Delta  has  ever  maintained,  we 
will  promise  this  much,  and  we  will  perform  it,  namely,  to  suspend 
our  publication,  even  if  our  last  crust  be  sacrificed  by  the  act,  rather 
than  molt  one  feather  of  that  independence  which,  in  presence  of 
every  discouragement  and  danger,  we  have  ever  made  our  honest 
boast.  We  have  no  f; ivors  to  ask ;  we  have  never  asked  or  desired 
any  from  any  party ;  and  we  are  prepared  to  stand  or  fall  with  the 
fortunes  of  our  adopted  Louisiana." 

General  Butler  ordered  the  suspension  of  the  True  Delta  until 
farther  orders.  The  proprietors,  however,  yielded  to  the  inevita- 
ble, promised  compliance  with  the  general's  requisitions,  and  ob- 
tained, on  the  next  day,  permission  to  resume  the  publication  of  the 
paper.  It  was  not,  however,  till  the  6th  of  May,  that  the  procla- 
mation appeared  in  its  columns.  The  other  newspapers  took  the 
hint,  and  exhibited,  in  their  comments  upon  passing  events,  a  blend- 
ing of  the  politic  with  the  audacious  that  was  ingenious  and  amus- 
ing, but  not  always  ingenious  enough,  as  General  Butler  occasionally 
reminded  them.  Editing  a  secession  newspaper  in  New  Orleans 
during  the  next  eight  months,  was  an  affair  which  could  be  de- 
scribed as  "ticklish;"  rather  more  so,  than  conducting  a  journal  in 
the    Orleans  interest,  under  the  nose  of   Louis  Bonaparte. 

The  second  day  of  the  occupation  of  the  city  was  crowded  with 
events  of  the  highest  interest. 

The  landing  of  the  troops  was  resumed  with  the  dawn.  Colonel 
Deming  encamped  his  fine  regiment  in  Lafayette  Square  in  front 
of  the  City  Hall.  Other  regiments  were  posted  in  convenient  locali- 
ties. Troops  were  landed  in  Algiers  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
river,  and  the  railroad  terminating  there  was  seized,  with  its  cars 
and  buildings.  General  Phelps  went  up  the  river  several  miles  in 
the  Saxon  to  reconnoiter,  and  select  a  site  for  a  camp  above  the 
city.  Captain  Everett  was  busy  extracting  the  spikes  from  the 
cannon  lying  about  the  Custom-House,  and  preparing  to  mount  some 
of  them  in  it  and  upon  it.  He  cast  an  inquiring  and  interested  eye 
upon  the  eight  hundred  bells — church  bells,  school  bells,  plantation 
bells,  hand  bells,  cow  bells — which  had  been  sent  to  New  Orleans 
upon  General  Beauregard's  requisition ;  some  of  which  now  call  the 
children  of  New  England  to  school ;  others,  factory  girls  to  their 
labor ;  others,  rural  congregations  to  church ;  for  they  were  all  sold 
at  auction,  sent  to  the  North,  and  distributed  over  the  country. 


284  LANDING   IN  NEW   ORLEANS. 

The  quartermaster  to  the  expedition  had  a  world  of  trouble  with 
the  draymen  of  the  city,  whom  he  needed  for  transporting  the  tents 
and  baggage.  Not  one  of  them  dared,  not  many  of  them  wished, 
to  serve  him.  He  was  obliged  to  compel  their  assistance  at  the 
point  of  the  pistol.  Everything  seized  for  the  use  of  the  troops,  on 
this  day  and  on  all  days,  was  either  paid  for  when  taken,  or  a  re- 
ceipt given  therefor  which  was  equivalent  to  gold.  The  behavior 
of  the  troops  was  faultless.  No  resident  of  New  Orleans  was 
harmed  or  insulted.  None  complained  of  harm  or  insult.  A  stran- 
ger would  have  supposed,  from  the  quiet  demeanor  of  the  troops 
and  the  arrogant  air  of  the  people,  that  the  soldiers  were  prisoners 
in  an  enemy's  town,  not  conquerors  in  a  captured  one.  For  the 
most  part,  the  troops  held  no  intercourse  whatever  with  the  inhabi- 
tants. It  was,  indeed,  perilous  in  the  extreme,  for  a  resident  of  the 
city  to  speak  to  an  old  friend,  if  that  friend  wore  the  uniform  of 
the  United  States.  Major  Bell  mentions  that  he  met  several  old 
acquaintances  about  the  city,  but  they  either  gave  him  the  cut  di- 
rect, or  else  bestowed  a  hurried,  furtive  salutation,  and  passed  rap- 
idly on.  Another  officer  reports  that  on  accosting  an  acquaintance, 
the  gentleman  said,  in  an  anxious  undertone,  "  Don't  speak  to  me, 
or  I  shall  have  my  head  blown  off." 

A  gentleman  connected  with  the  expedition,  but  not  in  uniform,* 
tells  me  that  he  strolled  into  a  market  that  morning,  and  bought  a 
cup  of  coffee,  for  which  he  gave  a  gold  dollar,  and  received  in  change 
nineteen  dirty  car-tickets,  part  of  the  established  currency  of  the  city. 

Quarters  were  required  for  the  commanding  general  and  his 
staff.  What  could  they  be  but  the  St.  Charles  hotel,  vacated  five 
days  before  by  General  Lovell  ?  Major  Strong,  Colonel  French, 
and  Major  Bell,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Glenn,  formerly  a  resident  of 
New  Orleans,  were  dispatched,  early  in  the  morning,  to  make  the 
preliminary  arrangements.  They  found  the  building  closed.  Going 
round  to  the  ladies'  entrance  they  gained  admission  to  the  famous 
rotunda — bar-room  and  slavemart,  scene  of  countless  "  difficulties" 
and  chivalric  assassinations.  There  they  met  a  son  of  one  of  the 
proprietors,  to  whom  they  stated  their  wishes.  He  replied,  that 
both  the  proprietors  were  absent ;  and  as  to  his  giving  up  the  hotel 
to  General  Butler,  his  head  would  be  shot  off  before  he  could  reach 
the  next  corner  if  he  should  do  it.    He  declared  that  waiters  would 

*  Mr.  Samuel  F.  Glenn,  afterward  clerk  of  the  provost-court 


LANDING    IN   NEW    OELEANS.  285 

not  dare  to  wait  upon  them,  nor  cooks  to  cook  for  them,  nor  porters 
to  carry  for  them.  Moreover,  there  were  no  provisions  to  be  had 
in  the  market ;  he  did  not  see  wThat  could  be  got  for  them  beyond 
army  rations.  These  objections  were  offered  by  the  young  gentle- 
man with  the  utmost  politeness  of  manner.  Major  Strong  observed, 
with  equal  suavity,  that  he  need  give  himself  no  concern  with 
regard  to  giving  op  the  hotel.  In  the  name  of  General  Butler,  they 
would  venture  to  take  it.  And  as  to  the  lack  of  provisions,  they 
were  used  to  array  rations,  had  found  them  sufficient,  and  could 
make  them  do  for  an  indefinite  period.  With  regard  to  waiters  and 
cooks,  the  army  of  occupation  were  chiefly  men  of  the  Yankee  per- 
suasion, who  were  accustomed  to  wait  on  themselves,  and  could  do  a 
little  of  everything,  from  cooking  upward.  The  young  gentleman 
had  nothing  farther  to  offer,  and  so  the  St.  Charles  became  the 
head-quarters  of  the  army.  The  general  arrived  in  the  course  of 
the  morning,  and  established  his  office  in  one  of  the  ladies'  parlors. 
Mrs.  Butler  still  remained  on  board  the  Mississippi. 

The  three  officers  and  Mr.  Glenn  next  proceeded  to  the  City 
Hall,  in  search  of  the  mayor.  They  found  that  public  functionary, 
after  some  delay.  They  informed  him,  with  all  possible  courtesy, 
that  General  Butler,  commanding  the  department  of  the  Gulf,  had 
established  his  head-quarters  at  the  St.  Charles  hotel,  where  he 
would  be  happy  to  confer  with  the  mayor  and  council  of  New 
Orleans,  at  two  o'clock  on  that  day.  The  reply  of  the  mayor  was 
to  the  effect,  that  his  place  of  business  was  at  the  City  Hall,  where 
any  gentleman  who  had  business  with  him  could  see  him  during 
office  hours.  Colonel  French  politely  intimated  that  that  was  not 
an  answer  likely  to  satisfy  the  commanding  general,  and  expressed 
a  hope  that  the  mayor,  on  reflection,  would  not  complicate  a  state 
of  affairs,  already  embarrassing  enough,  by  raising  questions  of  eti- 
quette. General  Butler  was  well  disposed  toward  New  Orleans 
and  its  authorities ;  he  merely  desired  to  come  to  a  clear  under- 
standing with  them  as  to  the  future  government  of  the  city.  The 
officers  retired.  The  mayor,  upon  reflection,  concluded  to  wait  upon 
the  general.  At  two  o'clock,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Soule  and  a 
considerable  party  of  friends,  highly  respectable  gentlemen  of  the 
city,  he  sat  face  to  face  with  General  Butler  in  the  ladies'  parlor  of 
the  St.  Charles. 

The  interview  was  destined  to  be  interrupted  and  abortive.    The 


283  LANDING    IN   NEW   0ELEANS. 

seizure  of  the  St.  Charles  hotel  appeared  to  have  rekindled  the  pas- 
sions of  the  populace,  who  surrounded  the  building  in  a  dense  mass, 
filling  all  the  open  space  adjacent.  A  cannon  was  posted  at  each 
of  the  corners  of  the  building ;  a  regiment  surrounded  it ;  and  the 
brave  General  Williams  was  in  command.  But  it  seemed  as  if  the 
quiet  demeanor  of  the  troops,  since  the  landing  of  the  evening  be- 
fore,  had  been  misinterpreted  by  the  mob,  who  grew  fiercer,  louder 
and  bolder,  as  the  day  wore  on.  The  mayor  and  his  party  had  not 
been  long  in  the  presence  of  General  Butler,  when  an  aide-de-camp 
rushed  in  and  said : 

"  General  Williams  orders  me  to  say,  that  he  fears  he  will  not  be 
able  to  control  the  mob." 

General  Butler,  in  his  serenest  manner,  replied : 

"  Give  my  compliments  to  General  Williams,  and  tell  him,  if  he 
finds  he  can  not  control  the  mob,  to  open  upon  them  with  artil- 
lery." 

The  mayor  and  his  friends  sprang  to  their  feet  in  consternation. 

"Don't  do  that,  general!"  exclaimed  the  mayor. 

"  Why  not,  gentlemen?"  said  the  general.  "The  mob  must  be 
controlled.     We  can't  have  a  disturbance  in  the  street." 

"  Shall  I  go  out  and  speak  to  the  people  ?"  asked  the  mayor. 

"  Anything  you  please,  gentlemen,"  replied  General  Butler.  "  I 
only  insist  that  order  be  maintained  in  the  public  streets." 

The  mayor  and  other  gentlemen  addressed  the  crowd;  and,  as 
their  remarks  were  enforced  by  the  rumor  of  General  Butler's  or- 
der, there  was  a  temporary  lull  in  the  storm.  The  crowd  remained, 
however ;  vast,  fierce  and  sullen. 

The  interview  having  been  resumed,  the  mayor  was  proceeding 
to  descant,  in  the  high-flown  rhetoric  of  the  South,  upon  General 
Butler's  former  advocacy  of  the  rights  of  the  southern  states.  The 
South  had  looked  upon  him  as  its  special  friend  and  champion,  etc. 

"  Stop,  sir,"  said  the  general.  "  Let  me  set  you  right  on  that 
point  at  once.  I  was  always  a  friend  of  southern  rights,  but  an 
enemy  of  southern  wrongs." 

The  conversation  was  going  on  in  an  amicable  strain,  when 
another  aid  entered  the  apartment,  Lieutenant  Kinsman,  of  General 
Butler's  staff,  who  requested  a  word  with  the  general. 

This  officer  had  been  sent  to  the  fleet  that  morning  in  search  of 
telegraphic  operators.     On  board  the  Mississippi  (the  man-of-war, 


LANDING   IN   NEW    0ELEANS.  287 

not  the  transport  steamer),  he  was  accosted  by  Judge  Summers, 
who  had  sought  refuge  on  board  the  ship,  as  we  have  before  related. 
The  unhappy  judge,  who  was  anxious  to  get  to  the  city,  requested 
Lieutenant  Kinsman  to  take  him  on  shore,  and  give  him  adequate 
protection  against  the  mob,  who,  he  said,  would  tear  him  limb  from 
limb,  if  they  should  catch  him  alone.  The  lieutenant,  who  had  left 
the  city  perfectly  quiet,  was  disposed  to  make  light  of  the  danger; 
but  said  he  could  go  on  shore  with  him  if  he  chose,  and  he  would 
endeavor  to  get  him  safe  to  the  St.  Charles.  On  reaching  the  levee, 
Lieutenant  Kinsman  impressed  a  hack  into  his  service,  and  the  two 
passengers  were  started  for  the  hotel.  Unluckily,  the  ex-recorder 
is  a  man  of  gigantic  stature — six  feet  five,  and  of  corresponding 
magnitude ;  a  man  of  such  pronounced  peculiarity  of  appearance, 
that  even  if  he  had  never  sat  on  the  bench  and  thus  become  familiar 
to  the  eyes  of  scoundrels,  he  must  have  been  known  by  sight  to  all 
who  frequented  the  streets  of  the  city.  He  was  instantly  recog- 
nized. A  crowd  gathered  roimd  the  carriage,  hooting,  yelling,  curs- 
ing ;  new  hundreds  rushing  in  from  every  street ;  for  all  the  men  in 
the  city  were  idle  and  abroad.  Several  times  the  carriage  came  to 
a  stand;  but  Lieutenant  Kinsman,  pistol  in  hand,  ordered  the  driver 
to  go  on,  and  kept  him  to  his  work,  until  they  reached  the  troops 
guarding  the  hotel,  where  both  succeeded  in  alighting  and  entering 
the  building  unharmed. 

Judge  Summers  was  thoroughly  unnerved,  as  most  men  would 
have  been  in  the  same  circumstances.  A  mob  is  of  all  wild  beasts 
the  most  cowardly,  the  most  easily  managed  by  a  man  that  is  un- 
scarable  by  phantoms.  The  mob  that  attacked  the  Tribune  office, 
last  July,  was  scattered  by  the  report  of  one  pistol.  I  saw  it  done. 
Never  have  I  seen  the  square  in  front  of  the  building  so  bare  of 
people  as  it  was  in  ten  seconds  after  that  solitary  pistol  was  fired. 
But  a  mob  is,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  terrific  thing  to  look  at, 
especially  if  its  vulgar  and  savage  eye  is  fixed  upon  you,  that  can 
be  imagined.  Mr.  Summers  felt  unsafe,  even  in  the  hotel.  "  Give 
me  some  protection,"  said  he  ;  "  they'll  tear  me  all  to  pieces  if 
they  get  in  here ;"  and  it  looked,  at  the  time,  as  if  the  mob  would 
get  in. 

Hence  it  was,  that  Lieutenant  Kinsman  interrupted  the  general, 
and  asked  a  word  with  him. 

General  Butler   came  out,  and    heard   the   lieutenant's  report. 


288  LANDING  IN  NEW  OELEANS. 

The  ex-recorder  said  there  was  no  place  in  the  St.  Charles  where 
he  could  be  safe. 

"  "Well,  then,"  said  the  general,  "there's  the  Custom-House  over 
yonder  ;  that  will  hold  you.     You  can  go  there,  if  you  choose." 

"  But  how  can  I  get  there  ?     The  mob  will  tear  me  to  pieces." 

The  general  reflected  a  moment.  Then  said,  assuming  all  the 
"major-general  commanding :" 

"  We  may  as  well  settle  this  question  now  as  at  any  other  time. 
Lieutenant  Kinsman,  take  this  man  over  to  the  Custom-House. 
Take  what  force  you  require.  If  any  one  molests  or  threatens 
yon,  arrest  him.     If  a  rescue  is  attempted,  fire." 

Having  said  this,  he  returned  to  the  conference  with  the  mayor, 
and  Lieutenant  Kinsman  proceeded  to  obey  the  order.  He  con- 
ducted Mr.  Summers  to  a  side  door,  which  he  opened,  and  disclosed 
to  the  view  of  his  charge  a  compact  mass  of  infuriated  men,  held  at 
bay  by  a  company  of  fifty  soldiers. 

"Don't  attempt  it,"  said  the  judge,  recoiling  from  the  sight. 

"  I  must,"  returned  the  lieutenant.  "  The  general's  orders  were 
positive.     I  have  no  choice  but  to  obey." 

The  company  of  soldiers  were  soon  drawn  up  in  two  lines,  four 
feet  apart,  two  men  closing  the  front  and  two  the  rear  of  the 
column.  In  the  open  space  were  Lieutenant  Kinsman  and  Mr. 
Summers. 

"  Forward,  march  !"  The  column  started.  The  crowd  recogni- 
zing the  giant  judge,  yelled  and  boiled  around  the  slowly  pushing 
column.  The  active  men  of  the  mob  were  not  those  within  reach 
of  the  soldiers.  The  nearest  men  prudently  held  their  peace  and 
watched  their  chance.  Consequently,  no  arrests  were  made  until 
the  column  had  gone  half  way  to  the  Custom-House.  At  that 
point  stood  an  omnibus  with  one  man  in  it,  who  was  urging  on  the 
mob,  by  voice  and  gesture,  with  the  violence  of  frenzy. 

"  Halt !     Bring  out  that  man  !" 

Two  soldiers  sprang  into  the  omnibus,  collared  the  lunatic,  drew 
him  out,  and  placed  him  between  the  lines,  where  he  continued  to 
yell  and  gesticulate  in  the  most  frantic  manner. 

"  Stop  your  noise  !"  thundered  the  lieutenant. 

"I  won't,"  said  the  man;  "my  tongue  is  my  own." 

"  Sergeant ,  lower  your  bayonet.     If  a  sound  comes  out 

of  that  man's  mouth,  run  him  through !" 


LAXDIXG    IX   NEW    ORI^EANS.  289 

The  man  was  silent. 

"Forward — march!"  The  column  pushed  on  again,  but  very 
slowly.  After  going  some  distance,  the  lieutenant  perceived  that 
one  man,  who  had  been  particularly  vociferous,  was  within  clutch- 
ing distance. 

"  Halt — bring  in  that  man,"  pointing  him  out. 

The  man  was  seized  and  placed  in  the  column.  He  continued  to 
shout,  but  a  lowered  bayonet  brought  him  to  his  senses  also.  The 
column  pushed  on  again,  and  lodged  the  judge  and  the  two  prison- 
ers safely  in  the  impregnable  Custom-House,  the  citadel  of  New 
Orleans.  The  company  marched  back,  in  the  same  order,  through 
a  crowd  "  as  silent  as  a  funeral,"  to  use  the  lieutenant's  own  lan- 
guage. 

This  scene  was  witnessed  from  the  windows  of  the  St.  Charles 
by  General  Butler  and  his  staff,  and  by  the  mayor  and  his  friends, 
the  conference  being  suspended  by  common  consent.  The  general 
informs  me,  that  the  firmness  of  Lieutenant  Kinsman  on  this  occa- 
sion, aided  by  the  soldierly  steadiness  of  the  troops,  and  the  perfect 
coolness  of  their  officers,  contributed  most  essentially  to  the  subju- 
gation of  the  mob  of  New  Orleans.  It  was  never  so  rampant  again. 
The  company  was  Captain  Paige's  of  the  Thirty-first  Massachu- 
setts. 

The  reader  perceives  how  it  fared  with  the  conference.  The 
afternoon  wore  away  amid  these  interruptions,  and  it  was  finally 
agreed  to  postpone  farther  conversation  till  the  evening,  when  all 
matters  in  dispute  should  be  thoroughly  discussed.  By  that  time 
too,  copies  of  the  Proclamation  would  be  ready  from  the  True  Delta 
office.     So  the  mayor  and  his  friends  departed. 

In  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  a  carriage  having  been  with  difficulty 
procured,  General  Butler,  with  a  single  orderly  on  the  box,  drove 
to  the  levee,  a  distance  of  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  and  went  on 
Doard  the  transport  Mississippi.  Mrs.  Butler  and  her  maid  had 
V>assed  an  anxious  day  there,  ignorant  of  what  was  passing  in  the 
city.  "  Get  ready  to  go  on  shore,"  said  the  general.  The  trunks 
were  locked  and  strapped,  and  transferred  to  the  carriage.  Mrs. 
Butler  and  her  attendant  took  their  places,  the  general  followed 
them,  and  the  party  was  driven  to  the  hotel  without  molestation  or 
outcry. 

There  was  a  curious  tea-party  that  evening  in  the  vast  dining- 


290  LANDING   IN   NEW    OELEANS. 

room  of  the  St.  Charles,  where  hundreds  of  people  had  been  wont 
to  consume  luxurious  fare.  At  one  end  of  one  of  the  tables  sat  the 
little  company,  lost  in  the  magnitude  of  the  room — the  general,  Mrs. 
Butler,  and  two  or  three  members  of  the  staff.  The  fare  was  neither 
sumptuous  nor  abundant,  and  the  solitary  waiter  was  not  at  his  ease, 
for  he  was  doing  an  act  that  was  death  by  the  mob  law  of  New 
Orleans.  The  general  entertained  the  company  by  reading  choice 
extracts  from  the  anonymous  letters  which  he  had  received  in  the 
course  of  the  day.  "  We'll  get  the  better  of  you  yet,  old  cock-eye," 
remarked  one  of  his  nameless  correspondents.  Another  requested 
him  to  wait  a  month  or  two,  and  see  what  Yellow  Jack  would  do 
for  him.  Another  warned  him  to  look  out  for  poison  in  his  food. 
Both  the  General  and  Mrs.  Butler  received  many  epistles  of  this 
nature  during  the  first  few  weeks,  as  well  as  some  of  a  highly  eulogis- 
tic tenor.  Occasionally  the  general  would  reply  to  one  of  the  abu- 
sive letters  in  the  manner  following : 

"  Madame  :  I  have  received  the  letter  in  which  you  remark  upon 
my  conduct  in  New  Orleans,  which  I  regret  does  not  meet  your 
approbation.  It  may  interest  you  to  kuow  that  others  view  it  in 
a  very  different  light,  and  I,  therefore,  beg  to  inclose  for  your 
perusal  a  letter  received  this  day,  in  which  my  administration  is 
commented  upon  in  a  strain  different  from  that  in  which  you  have 
done  me  the  honor  to  review  it.     I  am,  madame,"  etc. 

As  the  frugal  repast  in  the  St.  Charles  was  drawing  to  a  close,  a 
band  on  the  balcony  in  front  of  the  building,  in  full  view  of  the 
crowd,  struck  up  the  Star  Spangled  Banner,  filling  the  void  im- 
mensity of  the  dining-room  with  a  deafening  noise.  The  band  con- 
tinued to  play  during  the  evening,  the  crowd  standing  silent  and 
sullen. 

Our  business,  however,  lies  this  evening  in  the  ladies'  parlor.  It 
is  a  spacious,  lofty  and  elegant  apartment.  On  one  side,  in  a  large 
semi-circle,  sat  the  representatives  of  New  Orleans,  the  mayor,  the 
common  council,  other  magnates,  and  Mr.  Pierre  Soule,  spokesman 
and  orator  of  the  occasion.  Mr.  Soule  had  long  been  the  special 
favorite  of  the  Creole  population  ;  popular,  also,  with  all  his  fellow- 
citizens;  a  kind  of  pet,  or  ladies'  delight  among  them;  renowTned, 
too,  at  the  bar.  New  Yorkers  may  call  him,  if  they  please,  the 
James  T.  Brady  of  New  Orleans.  In  appearance,  he  is  not  unlike 
Napoleon  Bonaparte — about  the  stature,  complexion,  and  general 


LANDING   LN"  NEW    ORLEANS.  291 

style  of  Napoleon ;  only  with  an  eye  of  marvelous  brilliancy,  and 
hair  worn  very  long,  black  as  night.  A  melodious,  fluent,  grace- 
ful, courteous  man,  formed  to  take  captive  the  hearts  of  listening 
men  and  women.  Of  an  independent  turn  of  mind,  too ;  not  too 
tractable  in  the  courts ;  not  one  of  those  who  made  haste  to  sever 
the  ties  that  had  bound  them  to  their  country.  He  appears  to 
have  accepted  secession  as  a  fact  accomplished,  rather  than  helped 
to  make  it  such.  In  conventions  and  elsewhere,  General  Butler 
had  often  met  him  before  to-day,  and  their  intercourse  had  always 
been  amicable. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  room,  also  in  a  semi-circle,  sat 
General  Butler  and  his  staff,  in  full  uniform,  brushed  for  the  oc- 
casion. Readers  are  familiar  with  those  annihilating  caricatures, 
which  are  called  photographs  of  General  Butler.  In  truth,  the 
general  has  an  imposing  presence.  Not  tall,  but  of  well-developed 
form,  and  fine,  massive  head ;  not  graceful  in  movement,  but  of 
firm,  solid  aspect ;  self-possessed ;  not  silver-tongued,  not  fluent,  like 
Mr.  Soule ;  on  the  contrary,  he  is  slow  of  speech,  often  hesitates 
and  labors,  can  not  at  once  bring  down  the  sledge-hammer  squarely 
on  the  anvil ;  but  down  it  comes  at  last  with  a  ring  that  is  remem- 
bered. It  is  only  in  the  heat  and  tempest  of  contention,  that  he 
acquires  the  perfect  use  of  his  parts  of  speech.  A  lady  who  may, 
for  anything  I  know,  have  been  peeping  into  the  room  this  even- 
ing from  some  coigne  of  vantage,  compares  the  two  combatants  on 
this  occasion  to  Richard  and  Saladin,  as  described  by  Scott  in  the 
Talisman;  where  Saladin,  all  alertness  and  grace,  cuts  the  silk 
with  gleaming,  swiftest  cimeter,  and  burly  Richard,  with  pon- 
derous broad-sword,  which  only  he  could  wield,  severs  the  bar  of 
iron. 

General  Butler  opened  the  conversation  by  saying  that  the  object 
for  which  he  had  requested  the  attendance  of  the  mayor  and  coun- 
cil, was  to  explain  to  them  the  principles  upon  which  he  intended 
to  govern  the  department  to  which  he  had  been  assigned,  and  to 
learn  from  them  how  far  they  were  disposed  to  co-operate  with  him. 
He  added  that  he  had  prepared  a  proclamation  to  the  people  of 
New  Orleans,  which  expressed  his  intentions ;  and  which  he  would 
now  read.  After  reading  it  he  would  be  happy  to  listen  to  any  re- 
marks from  gentlemen  representing  the  people  of  the  city.  Ho 
then  read  the  proclamation  as  follows : 
13 


292  LANDING   IN   NEW    ORLEANS. 


PROCLAMATION  OF  GENERAL  BUTLER. 

"  Head-qttakteks,  Depaktment  of  the  Gulf, 
"  New  Orleans,  May  1,  1862. 

"  The  city  of  New  Orleans  and  its  environs,  with  all  its  interior  and  ex- 
terior defenses,  having  surrendered  to  the  combined  naval  and  land  forces 
of  the  United  states,  and  being  now  in  the  occupation  of  the  forces  of  the 
United  States,  who  have  come  to  restore  order,  maintain  public  tranquillity, 
and  enforce  peace  and  quiet,  under  the  laws  and  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  the  major-general  commanding  hereby  proclaims  the  object  and 
purposes  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  in  thus  taking  possession 
of  New  Orleans  and  the  state  of  Louisiana,  and  the  rules  and  regulations 
by  which  the  laws  of  the  United  States  will  be  for  the  present,  and  doling 
the  state  of  war,  enforced  and  maintained,  for  the  plain  guidance  of  all 
good  citizens  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  others  who  may  have  hereto- 
fore been  in  rebellion  against  their  authority. 

"  Thrice  before  has  the  city  of  New  Orleans  been  rescued  from  the  hands 
of  a  foreign  government,  and  still  more  calamitous  domestic  insurrection,* 
by  the  money  and  arms  of  the  United  States.  It  has  of  late  been  under 
the  military  control  of  the  rebel  forces,  and  at  each  time,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  commanders  of  the  military  forces  holding  it,  it  has  been  found  ne- 
cessary to  preserve  order  and  maintain  quiet  by  an  administration  of  mar- 
tial law.  Even  during  the  interim  from  its  evacuation  by  the  rebel  soldiers 
and  its  actual  possession  by  the  soldiers  of  the  United  States,  the  civil  au- 
thorities have  found  it  necessary  to  call  for  the  intervention  of  an  armed 
body  known  as  the  European  Legion,  to  preserve  the  public  tranquillity. 
The  commanding  general,  therefore,  will  cause  the  city  to  be  guarded,  until 
the  restoration  of  the  United  States  authority  and  his  further  orders,  by 
martial  law. 

u  All  persons  in  arms  against  the  United  States  are  required  to  surrender 
themselves,  with  their  arms,  equipments,  and  munitions  of  war.  The  body 
known  as  the  European  Legion,  not  being  understood  to  be  in  arms  against 
the  United  States,  but  organized  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of  the 
citizens,  are  invited  to  still  co-operate  with  the  forces  of  the  United  States 
to  that  end,  and,  so  acting,  will  not  be  included  in  the  terms  of  this  order, 
but  will  report  to  these  head-quarters. 

"  All  ensigns,  flags,  devices,  tending  to  uphold  any  authority  whatever, 
save  the  flags  of  the  United  States  and  those  of  foreign  consulates,  must 
not  be  exhibited,  but  suppressed.     The  American  ensign,  the  emblem  of 

*  1st,  by  purchase  in  1803.  2d,  by  General  Wilkinson  in  1S07,  when  the  city  was  supposed  to 
be  threatened  by  Aaron  Burr.    3d,  by  Ganeral  Jackson  in  1814. 


LANDING   IN   NEW    ORLEANS.  293 

the  United  States,  must  be  treated  with  the  utmost  deference  and  respect 
bj  all  persons,  under  pain  of  severe  punishment. 

"All  persons  well  disposed  towards  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
who  shall  renew  the  oath  of  allegiance,  will  receive  a  safeguard  of  protec- 
tion to  their  persons  and  property  from  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  violation  of  such  safeguard  will  be  punishable  with  death.  All  persons 
still  holding  allegiance  to  the  Confederate  States,  will  be  deemed  rebels 
against  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  regarded  and  treated  as 
enemies  thereof.  All  foreigners,  not  naturalized  and  claiming  allegiance  to 
their  respective  governments,  and  not  having  made  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  government  of  the  Confederate  States,  will  be  protected  in  their  per- 
sons and  property,  as  heretofore,  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  All 
persons  who  may  have  heretofore  given  adherence  to  the  supposed  govern- 
ment of  the  Confederate  States,  or  been  in  their  service,  who  shall  lay 
down  or  deliver  up  their  arms,  return  to  peaceful  occupations,  and  preserve 
quiet  and  order,  holding  no  farther  correspondence  nor  giving  aid  and  com- 
fort to  enemies  of  the  United  States,  will  not  be  disturbed  in  their  per- 
sons or  property,  except  so  far  under  the  orders  of  the  commanding  general 
as  the  exigencies  of  the  public  service  may  render  necessary. 

"  Keepers  of  all  public  property,  whether  state,  national,  or  confederate, 
such  as  collections  of  art,  libraries  and  museums,  as  well  as  all  public  build- 
ings, all  munitions  of  war  and  armed  vessels,  will  at  once  make  full  returns 
thereof  to  these  head-quarters.  All  manufacturers  of  arms  and  munitions 
of  war  will  report  to  these  head-quarters  their  kind  and  places  of  business. 
All  the  rights  of  property,  of  whatever  kind,  will  be  held  inviolate,  subject 
only  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  All  the  inhabitants  are  enjoined  to 
pursue  their  usual  avocations.  All  shops  and  places  of  amusement  are  to 
be  kept  open  in  the  accustomed  manner,  and  services  are  to  be  held  in  the 
churches  and  religious  houses,  as  in  times  of  profound  peace. 

u  Keepers  of  all  public  houses  and  drinking  saloons  are  to  report  their 
names  and  numbers  to  the  office  of  the  provost-marshal,  and  they  will  then 
receive  a  license,  and  be  held  responsible  for  all  disorders  and  disturbances 
arising  in  their  respective  places. 

"  Sufficient  force  will  be  kept  in  the  city  to  preserve  order  and  maintain 
the  laws.  The  killing  of  American  soldiers  by  any  disorderly  person  or 
mob,  is  simply  assassination  and  murder,  and  not  war,  and  will  be  so  re- 
garded and  punished.  The  owner  of  any  house  in  which  such  murder  shall 
be  committed  will  be  held  responsible  therefor,  and  the  house  be  liable  to 
be  destroyed  by  the  military  authority.  All  disorders,  disturbances  of  the 
peace,  and  crimes  of  an  aggravated  nature,  interfering  with  the  forces  or 
laws  of  the  United  States,  will  be  referred  to  a  military  court  for  trial  and 
punishment.  Other  misdemeanors  will  be  subject  to  the  municipal  author- 
ity, if  it  desires  to  act. 


2L  1  UUSTDING  IN   NEW    ORLEANS. 

"  Civil  causes  between  party  and  party  will  be  referred  to  the  ordinary 
tribunals. 

"  The  levy  and  collection  of  taxes,  save  those  imposed  by  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  are  suppressed,  except  those  for  keeping  in  repair  and  light- 
ing the  streets,  and  for  sanitary  purposes.  These  are  to  be  collected  in  the 
usual  manner. 

"  The  circulation  of  Confederate  bonds,  evidences  of  debt  (except  notes 
in  the  similitude  of  bank-notes)  issued  by  the  Confederate  States,  or  scrip, 
or  any  trade  in  the  same,  is  forbidden.  It  has  been  represented  to  the 
commanding  general  by  the  civil  authorities  that  these  Confederate  notes, 
in  the  form  of  bank-notes,  in  a  great  measure,  are  the  only  substitutes  for 
money  which  the  people  have  been  allowed  to  have,  and  that  great  distress 
would  ensue  among  the  poorer  classes  if  the  circulation  of  such  notes 
should  be  suppressed.  Such  circulation,  therefore,  will  be  permitted  so 
long  as  any  one  will  be  inconsiderate  enough  to  receive  them,  until  farther 
orders. 

"  No  publication  of  newspapers,  pamphlets,  or  hand-bills,  giving  accounts 
of  the  movements  of  the  soldiers  of  the  United  States  within  this  depart- 
ment, reflecting  in  any  way  upon  the  United  States,  intended  in  any  way 
to  influence  the  public  mind  against  the  United  States,  will  be  permitted, 
and  all  articles  on  war  news,  editorial  comments,  or  correspondence  making 
comments  upon  the  movements  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  must  be 
submitted  to  the  examination  of  an  officer,  who  will  be  detailed  for  that 
purpose  from  these  head-quarters.  The  transmission  of  all  communications 
by  telegraph  will  be  under  the  charge  of  an  officer  detailed  from  these  head- 
quarters. 

"  The  armies  of  the  United  States  came  here  not  to  destroy,  but  to  re- 
store order  out  of  chaos,  to  uphold  the  government  and  the  laws  in  the 
place  of  the  '  passage'  of  men.  To  this  end,  therefore,  the  efforts  of  all 
well  disposed  are  invited,  to  have  every  species  of  disorder  quelled. 

"  If  any  soldier  of  the  United  States  should  so  far  forget  his  duty  or  his  flag 
as  to  commit  outrage  upon  any  person  or  property,  the  commanding  gen- 
eral requests  his  name  to  be  instantly  reported  to  the  provost  guard,  so  that 
he  may  be  punished  and  his  wrongful  act  redressed.  The  municipal  au- 
thority, so  far  as  the  police  of  the  city  and  environs  are  concerned,  is  to  ex- 
tend as  before  indicated,  until  suspended. 

"  All  assemblages  of  persons  in  the  streets,  either  by  day  or  night,  tend 
to  disaster,  and  are  forbidden.  The  various  companies  composing  the  Fire 
Department  of  New  Orleans  will  be  permitted  to  retain  their  organizations, 
and  are  to  report  to  the  provost-marshal,  so  that  they  may  be  known,  and 
not  interfered  with  in  their  duties. 

"  And,  finally,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  add,  without  farther  enumeration, 
that  all  the  requirements  of  martial  law  will  be  imposed  so  long  as,  in  the 


LANDING   IN   NEW    ORLEANS.  295 

judgment  of  the  United  States  authorities,  it  may  be  necessary ;  and  while  it 
is  desired  by  these  authorities  to  exercise  this  government  mildly,  and  after 
the  usages  of  the  past,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  it  will  not  be  rigor- 
ously and  firmly  administered  as  the  occasion  calls  for  it." 

"  By  command  of  Majob-Genebal  Butleb. 

"Geo.  B.  Stbono,  A.  A.  G.,  Chief  of  Staff ." 

"  The  sum  and  substance  of  the  whole,"  said  General  Butler,  "  is 
this :  I  wish  to  leave  the  municipal  authority  in  the  full  exercise 
of  its  accustomed  functions.  I  do  not  desire  to  interfere  with  the 
collection  of  taxes,  the  government  of  the  police,  the  lighting  and 
cleaning  of  the  streets,  the  sanitary  laws,  or  the  administration  of 
justice.  I  desire  only  to  govern  the  military  forces  of  the  depart- 
ment, and  to  take  cognizance  only  of  offenses  committed  by  or 
against  them.  Representing  here  the  United  States,  it  is  my  wish 
to  confine  myself  solely  to  the  business  of  sustaining  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  against  its  enemies." 

Mr.  Soule  replied.  He  said,  that  his  first  concern  was  for  the 
tranquillity  of  the  city,  which,  he  felt  sure,  could  not  be  maintained 
so  long  as  the  federal  troops  remained  within  its  limits.  He 
therefore  urged  and  implored  General  Butler  to  remove  the  troops 
to  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  where  the  hourly  sight  of  them  would 
not  irritate  a  sensitive  and  high-spirited  people.  "  I  know  the  feel- 
ings of  the  people  so  well,"  said  he,  "  that  I  am  sure  your  soldiers 
can  have  no  peace  while  they  remain  in  our  midst."  The  Proclama- 
tion, he  added,  would  give  great  offense.  The  people  would  never 
submit.  They  were  not  conquered,  and  could  not  be  expected  to  be- 
have as  a  conquered  people.  "  Withdraw  your  troops,  general,  and 
leave  the  city  government  to  manage  its  own  affairs.  If  the  troops 
remain,  there  will  certainly  be  trouble." 

This  absurd  line  of  remark — absurd  as  a  reply  to  the  general's 
proposals — fired  the  commander  of  the  department  of  the  gulf.  He 
spoke,  however,  in  a  measured  though  decisive  manner. 

"I  did  not  expect,"  said  he,  "to  hear  from  Mr.  Soule  a  threat 
on  this  occasion.  I  have  been  long  accustomed  to  hear  threats  from 
southern  gentlemen  in  political  conventions  ;  but  let  me  assure  gen- 
tlemen present,  that  the  time  for  tactics  of  that  nature  has  passed 
never  to  return.  New  Orleans  is  a  conquered  city.  If  not,  why 
are  we  here  ?  How  did  we  get  here  ?  Have  you  opened  your 
arms   and  bid   us    welcome?      Are   we   here   by   your  consent? 


296  LANDING   IS  NEW   OELEANS. 

Would  you  or  would  you  not,  expel  us  if  you  could?  New  Orleans 
has  been  conquered  by  the  forces  of  the  United  States,  and  by 
the  laws  of  all  nations,  lies  subject  to  the  will  of  the  conquerors. 
Nevertheless,  I  have  proposed  to  leave  the  municipal  government 
to  the  free  exercise  of  all  its  powers,  and  I  am  answered  by  a 
threat." 

Mr.  Soule*  disclaimed  the  intention  to  threaten  the  troops.  He 
had  desired  merely  to  state  what,  in  his  opinion,  would  be  the  con- 
sequences of  their  remaining. 

"  Gladly,"  continued  General  Butler,  "  will  I  take  every  man  of 
the  army  out  of  New  Orleans  the  very  day,  the  very  hour  it  is 
demonstrated  to  me  that  the  city  government  can  protect  me  from 
insult  or  danger,  if  I  choose  to  ride  alone  from  one  end  of  the  city 
to  the  other,  or  accompanied  by  one  gentleman  of  my  staff.  Your 
inability  to  govern  the  insulting,  irreligious,  unwashed  mob  in  your 
midst  has  been  clearly  proved  by  the  insults  of  your  rowdies  toward 
my  officers  and  men  this  very  afternoon,  and  by  the  fact  that  Gen- 
eral Lovell  was  obliged  to  proclaim  martial  law  while  his  army  oc- 
cupied your  city,  to  protect  the  law  abiding  citizens  from  the  row- 
dies. I  do  not  proclaim  martial  law  against  the  respectable  citizens 
of  this  place,  but  against  the  same  class  that  obliged  General  Wil- 
kinson, General  Jackson,  and  General  Lovell  to  declare  it.  I  have 
means  of  knowing  more  about  your  city  than  you  think,  and  I 
am  aware  that  at  this  hour  there  is  an  organization  here  established 
for  the  purpose  of  assassinating  my  men  by  detail ;  but  I  warn  you 
that  if  a  shot  is  fired  from  any  house,  that  house  will  never  again 
cover  a  mortal's  head ;  and  if  I  can  discover  the  perpetrator  of  the 
deed,  the  place  that  now  knows  him  shall  know  him  no  more  for 
ever.  I  have  the  power  to  suppress  this  unruly  element  in  your 
midst,  and  I  mean  so  to  use  it,  that  in  a  very  short  period,  I  shall 
be  able  to  ride  through  the  entire  city,  free  from  insult  and  danger, 
or  else  this  metropolis  of  the  South  shall  be  a  desert,  from  the  Plains 
of  Chalmette  to  the  outskirts  of  Carrollton." 

Mr.  Soule,  in  reply,  delivered  an  oration,  the  beauty  and  grace 
of  which  were  admired  by  all  who  heard  it.  I  regret  that  we  have 
no  report  of  his  speech.  It  was,  in  part,  a  defense  and  eulogy  of 
New  Orleans,  and,  in  part,  a  secession  speech  of  the  usual  tenor, 
illumined  by  the  rhetoric  of  an  accomplished  speaker.  He  said  that 
New  Orleans  contained  a  smaller  proportion  of  the  mob  element 


LANDING   IN  NEW    OELEANS.  297 

than  any  other  city  of  equal  size,  and  that  the  proclamation  of  mar- 
tial law  by  General  Lovell  was  aimed,  not  at  the  mob,  but  at  the 
Union  men  and  u  traitors"  in  their  midst. 

The  conversation  then  turned  to  a  topic  of  immense  moment  to 
the  people  of  the  city,  the  supply  of  provisions.  The  general  said 
he  had  determined  to  issue  permits  to  dealers  and  others,  which 
should  protect  them  in  bringing  in  provisions  from  a  certain  dis- 
tance beyond  his  lines.  The  awful  situation  of  the  poor  of  the  city 
should  have  his  immediate  attention ;  in  the  mean  time,  the  Con- 
federate currency  in  their  hands  should  be  allowed  to  circulate, 
since  many  of  them  had  nothing  else  of  the  nature  of  money. 

After  much  farther  discussion,  the  general  being  immovable,  the 
mayor  announced,  that  the  functions  of  the  city  government  would 
be  at  once  suspended,  and  the  general  could  do  with  the  city  as 
seemed  to  him  good. 

A  member  of  the  council  promptly  interposed,  saying,  that  a 
matter  of  so  much  importance  should  not  be  disposed  of  until  it  had 
been  considered  and  acted  upon  by  the  common  council.  The 
mayor  assented.  General  Butler  offered  no  objection.  It  was 
finally  agreed  that  the  council  should  confer  upon  the  subject  the 
next  morning,  and  make  known  the  result  of  their  deliberations  to 
the  general  in  the  course  of  the  day.  The  gentlemen  then  with- 
drew :  the  crowd  in  the  streets  gradually  dispersed,  and  the  city 
enjoyed  a  tranquil  night. 

The  next  morning,  the  Proclamation  was  published ;  i.  e.,  hand- 
bills, containing  it,  were  freely  given  to  all  who  would  take  one. 
Two  important  appointments  were  also  announced :  Major  Joseph 
W.  Bell,  to  be  provost-judge,  and  Colonel  Jonas  H.  French,  to  be 
provost-marshal.  Colonel  French  notified  the  people,  by  hand-bill, 
that  he  "  assumed  the  position  of  provost-marshal,  for  the  purpose 
of  carrying  out  such  of  the  provisions  of  the  Proclamation  of  the 
general  commanding  within  this  department,  as  were  not  left  to 
municipal  action.  *  *  *  Particularly  does  he  call  attention  to 
the  prohibition  against  assemblages  of  persons  in  the  streets ;  the 
sale  of  liquor  to  soldiers ;  the  necessity  for  a  license  on  the  part  of 
keepers  of  public  houses,  coffee-houses,  and  drinking  saloons ;  to 
the  posting  of  placards  about  the  streets,  giving  information  con- 
cerning the  action  or  movements  of  rebel  troops,  and  the  publish- 
ing in  the  newspapers  of  notices  or  resolutions  laudatory  of  the 


298  LANDING    IN   NEW    ORLEANS. 

enemies  of  the  United  States.  "  The  soldiers  of  this  command  are 
subject,  upon  the  part  of  some  low-minded  persons,  to  insult.  This 
must  stop.  Repetition  will  lead  to  instant  arrest  and  punishment. 
In  the  performance  of  his  duties  the  undersigned  will,  in  no  de- 
gree, trench  upon  the  regularly  established  police  of  the  city,  but 
will  confine  himself  simply  to  the  performance  of  such  acts  as  were 
to  be  assumed  by  the  military  authorities  of  the  United  States ; 
and,  in  such  action,  he  hopes  to  meet  with  the  ready  co-operation 
of  all  who  have  the  welfare  of  the  city  at  heart." 

At  noon,  the  foreign  consuls  waited  upon  General  Butler,  ac- 
companied by  General  Juge,  commanding  the  European  Brigade. 
The  interview  was  in  the  highest  degree  amicable  and  courteous. 
General  Butler  explained  to  the  consuls  the  line  of  conduct  he  had 
marked  out  for  himself,  and  related  the  leading  points  of  his  pro- 
posal to  the  mayor  and  council,  whose  reply  he  was  then  awaiting. 
He  also  assured  the  consuls,  that  nothing  should  be  wanting  on  his 
part,  to  facilitate  the  discharge  of  their  public  duties.  His  most 
earnest  desire,  he  said,  was  to  confine  his  attention  to  his  military 
duty,  and  leave  all  public  functionaries,  domestic  and  foreign,  to  the 
unrestrained  discharge  of  their  vocations.  He  warmly  thanked 
General  Juge  for  his  eminent  services  during  the  last  week,  ex- 
pressed regret  that  he  had  disbanded  his  men,  hoped  he  would  re- 
organize them,  and  aid  him  in  maintaining  order.  The  gentlemen 
retired,  apparently  well  pleased  with  what  they  had  heard.  They 
all  shook  hands  with  the  general  at  parting. 

A  delegation  from  the  common  council  next  appeared,  who  in- 
formed the  general  that  his  proposal  of  the  evening  before  was 
accepted.  The  city  government  should  go  on  as  usual;  but  they 
requested  that  the  troops  should  be  withdrawn  from  the  vicinity  of 
the  City  Hall,  that  the  authorities  might  not  seem  to  be  acting  un- 
der military  dictation.  This  request  was  granted :  the  troops  were 
withdrawn. 

The  general  went  farther.  He  sent  a  considerable  body  of  troops 
under  General  Phelps  to  Carrollton,  where  a  permanent  camp  was 
formed.  A  brigade  under  General  Williams  soon  went  up  the 
river  with  Captain  Farragut,  to  take  possession  of  and  hold  Baton 
Rouge.  Other  troops  were  posted  in  the  various  forts  upon  the 
lakes  abandoned  by  the  enemy.  Others  were  at  Algiers.  The 
camps  in  the  squares  of  the  city  were  broken  up.     When  all  the 


LANDING    IN   NEW    ORLEANS.  299 

troops  were  posted,  there  remained  in  the  city,  during  the  first  few 
weeks,  two  hundred  and  fifty  men :  and  these  men  lodged  in  the 
Custom-House,  and  served  merely  as  a  provost-guard.  Mr.  Soule, 
therefore,  had  his  desire,  or  nearly  so,  for  the  general  was  fully 
resolved  to  omit  no  fair  means  of  conciliating  the  people,  and  win- 
ning them  back  to  their  allegiance. 

Thus,  by  the  end  of  the  third  day,  the  city  was  tranquil,  and  there 
seemed  a  prospect  of  the  two  sets  of  authorities  going  on  peacefully 
together,  each  keeping  to  its  own  department ;  General  Butler  gov- 
erning the  army,  and  extending  the  area  of  conquest ;  the  mayor 
and  council  ruling  the  city,  aided,  if  necessary,  by  General  Juge  and 
his  brigade.  This  was  the  theory  upon  which  General  Butler  began 
his  memorable  administration.  This  was  the  offer  which  he  sin- 
cerely made  to  the  people  and  government  of  the  city.  We  shall 
discover,  in  time,  whose  fault  it  was  that  the  theory  proved  so  sig- 
nally untenable. 

The  comments  of  the  press  of  New  Orleans  upon  the  new  order 
of  things,  were  far  more  favorable  to  General  Butler  than  could 
have  been  expected.  The  True  Delta  frankly  admitted  the  truth  of 
that  part  of  the  Proclamation  which  gave  to  the  European  Brigade 
the  credit  of  having  preserved  the  city.  "  For  seven  years  past," 
said  the  True  Delta,  of  May  6th,  "the  world  knows  that  this  city, 
in  all  its  departments — judicial,  legislative  and  executive — has  been 
at  the  absolute  disposal  of  the  most  godless,  brutal,  ignorant  and 
ruthless  rufiianism  the  world  has  ever  heard  of  since  the  days  of 
the  great  Roman  conspirator.  By  means  of  a  secret  organization 
emanating  from  that  fecund  source  of  every  political  infamy,  New 
England,  and  named  Know  Nothingism  or  '  Sammyism' — from  the 
boasted  exclusive  devotion  of  the  fraternity  to  the  United  States — 
our  city,  from  being  the  abode  of  decency,  of  liberality,  generosity 
and  justice,  has  become  a  perfect  hell ;  the  temples  of  justice  are 
sanctuaries  for  crime ;  the  ministers  of  the  laws,  the  nominees  of 
blood-stained,  vulgar,  ribald  caballers;  licensed  murderers  shed 
innocent  blood  on  the  most  public  thoroughfares  with  impunity ; 
witnesses  of  the  most  atrocious  crimes  are  either  spirited  away, 
bought  off,  or  intimidated  from  testifying ;  perjured  associates  are 
retained  to  prove  alibis,  and  ready  bail  is  always  procurable  for  the 
immediate  use  of  those  whom  it  is  not  immediately  prudent  to  en- 
large otherwise.  The  electoral  system  is  a  farce  and  a  fraud ;  the 
13* 


SOO  FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR. 

knife,  the  slung-shot,  the  brass  knuckles  determining,  while  the 
sham  is  being  enacted,  who  shall  occupy  and  administer  the  offices 
of  the  municipality  and  the  commonwealth.  Can  our  condition 
then  surprise  any  man  ?  Is  it,  either,  a  fair  ground  for  reproach  to 
the  well-disposed,  kind-hearted  and  intelligent  fixed  population  of 
"New  Orleans,  that  institutions  and  offices  designed  for  the  safety  of 
their  persons,  the  security  of  their  property,  and  maintenance  of 
their  fair  repute  and  unsullied  honor,  should  by  a  band  of  conspira- 
tors, in  possession  by  force  and  fraud  of  the  electoral  machinery, 
be  diverted  from  their  legitimate  uses  and  made  engines  of  the  most 
insupportable  oppression  ?  "We  accept  the  reproach  in  the  Proc- 
lamation, as  every  Louisianian  alive  to  the  honor  and  fair  fame  of 
his  state  and  chief  city  must  accept  it,  with  bowed  heads  and  brows 
abashed." 

The  Bee  of  May  8th  said :  "  The  mayor  and  municipal  authorities 
have  been  allowed  to  retain  their  power  and  privileges  in  every- 
thing unconnected  with  military  affairs.  The  federal  soldiers  do 
not  seem  to  interfere  with  the  private  property  of  the  citizens,  and 
have  done  nothing  that  we  are  aware  of  to  provoke  difficulty.  The 
usual  nightly  reports  of  arrests  for  vagrancy,  assaults,  wounding 
and  killing  have  unquestionably  been  diminished.  The  city  is  as 
tranquil  and  peaceable  as  in  the  most  quiet  times." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR. 

New  Orleans  was  in  danger  of  starving.  It  contained  a  popu- 
lation of,  perhaps,  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  for  whom  there 
was  in  the  city  about  thirty  days'  supply  of  provisions,  held  at  prices 
beyond  the  means  of  all  but  the  rich.  A  barrel  of  flour  could  not 
be  bought  for  sixty  dollars ;  the  markets  were  empty,  the  provision 
stores  closed.  The  trade  with  Mobile,  which  had  formerly  whitened 
the  lakes  and  the  sound  with  sails,  was  cut  off.  The  Texas  drovers 
had  ceased  to  bring  in  cattle,  and  no  steamboats  from  the  Red 
River  country  were  running.     The  lake  coasts  were  desolate  and 


FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR.  301 

half  deserted,  because  the  trade  with  New  Orleans  had  ceased,  and 
because  the  locusts  of  secession  had  devoured  their  substance. 

New  Orleans  was  thus  a  starving  city  in  the  midst  of  an  impov- 
erished country.  The  river  planters,  who  had  been  wont  to  send 
marketing  to  the  city,  now  feared  to  trust  their  sloops,  their  pro- 
duce and  their  slaves,  within  the  lines  of  an  army  which  they  had 
been  taught  to  believe  was  bent  on  plunder  only.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  the  men  of  New  Orleans  were  away  with  the  Confeder- 
ate armies,  at  Shiloh,  in  Virginia,  and  elsewhere,  having  left  wives 
and  children,  mistresses  and  their  offspring,  to  the  public  charge. 
The  city  taxes*  were  a  million  dollars  in  arrears ;  and  the  city  gov- 
ernment, it  was  soon  discovered,  was  expending  its  energies  and 
its  ingenuity  upon  a  business  more  congenial  than  that  of  providing 
for  the  poor,  namely,  that  of  frustrating  and  exasperating  the  com- 
mander of  the  Union  army.  In  a  word,  fifty  thousand  human  be- 
ings in  New  Orleans  saw  before  them  a  prospect,  not  of  want,  not 
of  a  long  struggle  with  adversity,  but  of  starvation ;  and  that  imme- 
diate— to-morrow  or  the  next  day ;  and  General  Butler,  wielding 
the  power  and  resources  of  the  United  States,  alone  could  save 
them. 

To  this  task  he  addressed  himself;  it  necessarily  had  the  prece- 
dence of  all  other  work  during  the  first  few  days.  If  we  confine 
ourselves  to  this  topic  for  a  short  time,  so  as  to  show  in  one  view 
all  that  General  Butler  did  for  the  poor  of  New  Orleans,  the  reader 
will  please  bear  in  mind,  that  the  commanding  general  was  by  no 
means  able  to  confine  his  attention  to  it.  He  had  everything  to  do 
at  once.  The  business  of  the  city  was  dead ;  he  strove  to  revive 
it.  Confidence  in  the  honest  intentions  of  the  Union  authorities 
did  not  exist ;  he  endeavored  to  call  it  into  being.  The  currency 
was  deranged ;  it  was  his  duty  to  rectify  it.  The  secessionists  were 
audaciously  diligent ;  he  had  to  circumvent  and  repress  them.  The 
yellow  fever  season  was  at  hand ;  he  was  resolved  to  ward  it  off. 
The  city  government  was  obstructive  and  hostile ;  it  was  his  busi- 
ness to  frustrate  their  endeavors.  The  negro  problem  loomed  up; 
vast  and  portentous ;  he  had  to  act  upon  it  without  delay.  The  banks 
were  in  disorder  ;  their  affairs  demanded  his  attention.  The  consu- 
lates were  so  many  centers  of  hostile  Operations  ;  he  had  to  pene- 
trate their  mysteries.  His  army  was  considerable,  his  field  of  op- 
eration immense ;  he  could  not  neglect  the  chief  business  of  his 


302  FEEDING  AKD  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR. 

mission.  All  these  affairs  claimed  his  immediate  attention,  and  had 
it.  But  though  a  thousand  events  may  occur  simultaneously,  it  is 
not  convenient  to  relate  them  simultaneously.  We  shall  have 
sometimes  to  disregard  the  order  of  time,  and  pursue  one  subject 
or  class  of  subjects  to  the  end. 

General  Butler's  first  measures  for  the  supply  of  the  city  were 
taken  upon  the  suggestion  of  the  city  magnates.  The  following 
orders  were  promulgated  on  the  third  day  of  the  occupation  of  the 
city: 


"  The  commanding  general  of  this  department  has  been  informed  that 
there  is  now  at  Mobile  a  stock  of  flour  purchased  by  the  city  of  New  Or- 
leans for  the  subsistence  of  its  citizens.  The  suffering  condition  of  the 
poor  of  this  city,  for  the  want  of  this  flour,  appeals  to  the  humanity  of  those 
having  authority  on  either  side.  For  the  purpose  of  the  safe  transmission 
of  this  flour  to  this  city,  the  commanding  general  orders  and  directs  that  a 
safe  conduct  be  afforded  to  a  steamboat,  to  be  laden  with  the  same  to  this 
place.  This  safe  conduct  shall  extend  to  the  entire  protection  of  the  boat 
in  coming,  reasonable  delay  to  discharge,  and  return  to  Mobile. 

"  The  boat  will  take  no  passengers,  save  the  owners  and  keepers  of  the 
flour,  and  will  be  subject  to  the  strict  inspection  of  the  harbor-master  de- 
tailed from  these  head-quarters,  to  whom  its  master  will  report  its  arrival. 
The  faith  of  the  city  is  pledged  for  the  faithful  performance  of  the  require- 
ments of  this  order  on  the  part  of  the  agent  of  the  city  authorities,  who 
will  be  allowed  to  pass  each  way  with  the  boat,  giving  no  intelligence  or 
aid  to  the  Confederates." 

II. 

"The  president,  directors,  &c,  of  the  Opelousas  railroad  are  authorized 
and  required  to  run  their  cars  over  their  road  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
to  the  city  of  New  Orleans  all  materials  for  provisions,  marketing,  and 
supplies  of  food  which  may  be  offered  in  order  to  supply  the  wants  of  the 
city.  No  passengers  other  than  those  having  the  care  of  such  supplies,  as 
owners  and  keepers,  are  to  be  permitted  to  come  into  the  city,  and  none 
other  are  to  leave  the  city.  All  other  supplies  are  prohibited  transport 
over  the  road  either  way,  except  cotton  and  sugar,  which  may  be  safely 
brought  over  the  road,  and  will  be  purchased  at  their  fair  market  value  by 
the  United  States  in  specie.  The  transmission  of  live  stock  is  especially 
enjoined.  An  agent  of  the  city  government  will  be  allowed  to  pass  over 
the  road  either  way,  stopping  at  all  points,  on  the  faith  of  a  pledge  of  such 
government  that  he  transmits  no  intelligence  and  affords  no  aid  to  the  Con- 


FEEDiTSTVj.    ATTD    EMPLOYING   THE    POOR.  303 

federates.  The  officer  commanding  the  post  having  the  terminus  of  such 
road  within  his  pickets,  will  cause  a  thorough  inspection  of  the  cars  and 
boats  for  the  purpose  of  farthering  this  order,  and  will  offer  no  farther 
hindrance  so  long  as  this  order  is  in  good  faith  complied  with." 

III. 

"The  commanding  general  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  has  been  in- 
formed that  live  stock,  flour,  and  provisions,  purchased  for  subsistence  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  are  now  at  the  junction  of  the 
Red  and  Mississippi  rivers.  The  suffering  condition  of  the  poor  of  the  city, 
for  want  of  these  supplies,  appeals  to  the  humanity  of  those  having  author- 
ity on  either  side.  For  the  purpose,  therefore,  of  the  safe  transmission  of 
these  supplies  to  the  city,  the  commanding  general  orders  and  directs  that 
a  safe  conduct  he  afforded  for  two  steamers,  to  be  laden  with  provisions, 
cattle,  and  supplies  of  food,  either  alive  or  slaughtered,  each  day,  if  so  many 
choose  to  come.  This  safe  conduct  shall  extend  to  their  entire  protection 
by  the  forces  of  the  United  States  during  their  coming,  reasonable  delay 
for  discharge,  not  exceeding  six  days,  unless  in  case  of  accident  to  their 
machinery,  and  in  returning  to  or  near  the  junction  of  the  Red  and  Missis- 
sippi rivers. 

"  And  safe  conduct  is  farther  granted  to  boats,  laden  as  before  stated, 
with  provisions  for  New  Orleans  from  any  point  above  the  junction  of  such 
rivers,  if  at  any  time  during  which  these  supplies  are  needed  the  forces  of 
the  United  States  should  be  at  or  above  such  junction. 

"  These  boats  will  take  no  passengers  save  the  owners  or  keepers  of  the 
freight  aforesaid,  and  will  be  subject  to  strict  inspection  by  the  harbor- 
master detailed  from  these  head-quarters,  to  whom  they  will  report  their 
arrival. 

"  The  faith  of  the  city  is  pledged  for  the  faithful  execution  of  the  require- 
ments of  this  order  on  the  part  of  the  agent  of  the  city  authorities,  who 
will  be  allowed  to  pass  with  the  boats  either  way,  he  giving  no  intelligence 
or  aid  to  the  Confederates." 

For  the  immediate  relief  of  the  poor,  General  Butler  gave  from 
his  own  resources  a  thousand  dollars,  half  in  money,  half  in  pro- 
visions.  His  brother,  Colonel  A.  J.  Butler,  who  found  himself,  by 
the  action  of  the  senate,  without  employment  in  New  Orleans, 
and  having  both  capital  and  credit  at  command,  embarked  in  the 
business  of  bringing  cattle  from  Texas,  to  the  great  advantage  of 
the  city  and  his  own  considerable  profit.  The  quartermaster's 
chest  being  empty,  General  Butler  placed  all  the  money  of  his  own, 
which  he  could  raise,  at  his  disposal.     Provisions  soon  began  to 


304  FEEDING  AND  EMPXOYrNG  THE  POOE. 

arrive,  but  not  in  the  requisite  quantities.  At  the  end  of  a  month, 
flour  had  fallen  to  twenty-four  dollars  a  barrel ;  but  nearly  nine- 
teen hundred  families  were  daily  fed  at  the  public  expense,  and 
thousands  more  barely  contrived  to  subsist. 

It  immediately  appeared  that  every  one  of  the  passes  and  per- 
mits issued  by  the  general,  in  accordance  with  the  orders  just 
given,  was  abused,  to  the  aid  and  comfort  of  secession.  It  was 
discovered  that  provisions  were  secretly  sent  out  of  the  city 
to  feed  General  Lovell's  troops.  It  was  ascertained  that  Charles 
Heidsieck,  one  of  the  champagne  Heidsiecks,  had  come  from  Mo- 
bile in  the  provision  steamboat,  disguised  as  a  bar-keeper,  and  con- 
veyed letters  to  and  from  that  city;  an  offense  which  consigned 
him  speedily  to  Fort  Jackson.  Nor  did  the  city  government  stir 
in  the  business  of  providing  for  tbe  poor  ;  not  a  dollar  was  voted, 
not  a  relieving  act  was-  passed.  The  city  was  reeking,  too,  with 
the  accumulated  filth  of  many  weeks,  the  removal  of  which  would 
have  afforded  employment  to  many  hungry  men ;  but  it  wras  suf- 
fered to  remain,  inviting  the  yellow  fever. 

General  Butler,  on  the  9th  of  May,  reminded  the  mayor  and 
council  of  the  compact  between  himself  and  the  city  authorities 
made  five  days  before.  "  I  desire,"  said  he,  "  to  call  your  atten- 
tion to  the  sanitary  condition  of  your  streets.  Having  assumed, 
by  the  choice  of  your  fellow-citizens  and  the  permission  of  the 
United  States  authorities,  the  care  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans  in 
this  behalf,  that  trust  must  be  faithfully  administered.  Resolu- 
tions and  inaction  wTill  not  do.  Active,  energetic  measures,  fully 
and  promptly  executed,  are  imperatively  demanded  by  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  occasion.  The  present  suspension  of  labor  fur- 
nishes ample  supplies  of  hungry  men,  who  can  be  profitably  em- 
ployed to  this  end.  A  tithe  of  the  labor  and  effort  spent  upon  the 
streets  and  public  squares,  which  was  uselessly  and  inanely  wasted 
upon  idle  fortifications,  like  that  about  the  United  States  Mint,  will 
place  the  city  in  a  condition  to  insure  the  health  of  its  inhabitants.  It 
will  not  do  to  shift  the  responsibility  from  yourselves  to  the  street 
commissioners,  from  thence  to  the  contractor,  and  thence  to  the 
sub-contractors,  and  through  all  the  grades  of  civic  idleness  and 
neglect  of  duty.  Three  days  since  I  called  the  attention  of  Mr. 
Mayor  to  this  subject,  and  nothing  has  been  done." 

The  mayor  boldly  replied  that  three  hundred  extra  men  had  been 


FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOK.  305 

set  to  work  upon  the  streets.  No  such  force  could  be  discovered 
by  the  optics  of  Union  officers.  Steps  may  have  been  taken  toward 
the  employment  of  men,  and  even  "  extra  men,"  in  cleaning  the  city ; 
but  it  is  certain  that,  up  to  the  ninth  of  May,  no  street-cleaners 
were  actually  at  work.  The  weather  Avas  extremely  hot,  and  the 
need  of  purification  was  manifest  and  pressing. 

On  the  same  day,  General  Butler  issued  one  of  his  startling  gen- 
eral orders,  the  terms  and  tone  of  which  were  doubtless  influenced 
by  the  mayor's  audacious  reply,  as  well  as  by  the  abuse  of  the 
passes  which  admitted  food  to  a  starving  city. 

"  New  Orleans,  May  9,  1862. 

"  The  deplorable  state  of  destitution  and  hunger  of  the  mechanics  and 
working  classes  of  this  city  has  been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  com- 
manding general. 

"  He  has  yielded  to  every  suggestion  made  by  the  city  government,  and 
ordered  every  method  of  furnishing  food  to  the  people  of  New  Orleans  that 
government  desired.  No  relief  by  those  officials  has  yet  been  afforded. 
This  hunger  does  not  pinch  the  wealthy  and  influential,  the  leaders  of  the 
rebellion,  who  have  gotten  up  this  war,  and  are  now  endeavoring  to  prose- 
cute it,  without  regard  to  the  starving  poor,  the  workingman,  his  wife  and 
child.  Unmindful  of  their  suffering  fellow-citizens  at  home,  they  have 
caused  or  suffered  provisions  to  be  carried  out  of  the  city  for  Confederate 
service  since  the  occupation  by  the  United  States  forces. 

"  Lafayette  Square,  their  home  of  affluence,  was  made  the  depot  of  stores 
and  munitions  of  war  for  the  rebel  armies,  and  not  of  provisions  for  their 
poor  neighbors.  Striking  hands  with  the  vile,  the  gambler,  the  idler,  and 
the  ruffian,  they  have  destroyed  the  sugar  and  cotton  which  might  have 
been  exchanged  for  food  for  the  industrious  and  good,  and  regrated  the 
price  of  that  which  is  left,  by  discrediting  the  very  currency  they  had  fur- 
nished, while  they  eloped  with  the  specie ;  as  well  that  stolen  from  the 
United  States,  as  from  the  banks,  the  property  of  the  good  people  of  New 
Orleans,  thus  leaving  them  to  ruin  and  starvation. 

"Fugitives  from  justice  many  of  them,  and  others,  their  associates,  stay- 
ing because  too  puerile  and  insignificant  to  be  objects  of  punishment  by  the 
clement  government  of  the  United  States. 

"  They  have  betrayed  their  country  : 

"  They  have  been  false  to  every  trust : 

"They  have  shown  themselves  incapable  of  defending  the  state  they  had 
seized  upon,  although  they  have  forced  every  poor  man's  child  into  their 
service  as  soldiers  for  that  purpose,  while  they  made  their  sons  and  ne- 
phews officers : 


S06  FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR. 

"  They  can  not  protect  those  whom  they  have  ruined,  but  have  left  them 
to  the  mercies  and  assassinations  of  a  chronic  mob  : 

"  They  will  not  feed  those  whom  they  are  starving : 

"  Mostly  without  property  themselves,  they  have  plundered,  stolen,  and 
destroyed  the  means  of  those  who  had  property,  leaving  children  penniless 
and  old  age  hopeless. 

"  Men  of  Louisiana,  workinqmen,  property-holders,  merchants,  and 
citizens  op  the  United  States,  of  whatever  nation  you  may  have  had 
birth,  how  long  will  you  uphold  these  flagrant  wrongs,  and,  by  inaction, 
suffer  yourselves  to  be  made  the  serfs  of  these  leaders  ? 

"  The  United  States  have  sent  land  and  naval  forces  here  to  fight  and 
subdue  rebellious  armies  in  array  against  her  authority.  We  find,  substan- 
tially, only  fugitive  masses,  runaway  property-burners,  a  whisky-drinking 
mob,  and  starving  citizens  with  their  wives  and  children.  It  is  our  duty  to 
call  back  the  first,  to  punish  the  second,  root  out  the  third,  feed  and  pro- 
tect the  last. 

"  Keady  only  for  war,  we  had  not  prepared  ourselves  to  feed  the  hungry 
and  relieve  the  distressed  with  provisions.  But  to  the  extent  possible, 
within  the  power  of  the  commanding  general,  it  shall  be  done. 

"  He  has  captured  a  quantity  of  beef  and  sugar  intended  for  the  rebels 
in  the  field.  A  thousand  barrels  of  these  stores  will  be  distributed  among 
the  deserving  poor  of  this  city,  from  whom  the  rebels  had  plundered  it ; 
even  although  some  of  the  food  will  go  to  supply  the  craving  wants  of 
the  wives  and  children  of  those  now  herding  at  '  Camp  Moore'  and  else- 
where, in  arms  against  the  United  States. 

"  Captain  Join  Clark,  acting  chief  commissary  of  subsistence,  will  be 
charged  with  the  execution  of  this  order,  and  will  give  public  notice  of  the 
place  and  manner  of  distribution,  which  will  be  arranged,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, so  that  the  unworthy  and  dissolute  will  not  share  its  benefits." 

Another  measure  of  relief  was  adopted  when  the  arrival  of  stores 
from  New  York  had  delivered  the  army  itself  from  the  danger  of 
scarcity.  The  chief  commissary  was  authorized  to  "  sell  to  families 
for  consumption,  in  small  quantities,  until  farther  orders,  flour  and 
salt  meats,  viz. :  pork,  beef,  ham,  and  bacon,  from  the  stores  of  the 
army,  at  seven  and  a  half  cents  per  pound  for  flour  and  ten  cents 
for  meats.  City  bank-notes,  gold,  silver,  or  treasury  notes  to  be 
taken  in  payment." 

The  city  government  still  neglecting  tho  streets,  General  Butler 
conceived  the  idea  of  combining  the  relief  of  the  poor  with  the  puri- 
fication of  the  city.  There  was  nothing  upon  which  he  was  more 
resolved  than  the  disappointment  of  rebel  hopes  with  regard  to  the 


FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR.  307 

yellow  fever.  He  understood  the  yellow  fever,  knew  the  secret  of 
its  visitations,  felt  himself  equal  to  a  successful  contest  with  it. 
June  fourth  (the  mayor  of  the  city  being  then  in  a  state  of  suppres- 
sion at  Fort  Jackson,  for  acts  yet  to  be  related),  the  general 
sketched  his  plan  in  the  following  letter  to  General  Shepley  and  the 
common  council: 


New  Orleans,  June  4,  1862. 
r  To  the  Military  Commandant  and  City  Council  of  New  Orleans : 

M  General  Shepley  and  Gentlemen  : — Painful  necessity  compels  some 
action  in  relation  to  the  unemployed  and  starving  poor  of  New  Orleans. 
Men  willing  to  labor  can  not  get  work  by  which  to  support  themselves  and 
families,  and  are  suffering  for  food. 

"  Because  of  the  sins  of  their  betrayers,  a  worse  than  the  primal  curse 
seems  to  have  fallen  upon  them.  'In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat 
bread  until  thou  return  unto  the  ground.' 

"  The  condition  of  the  streets  of  the  city  calls  for  the  promptest  action 
for  a  greater  cleanliness  and  more  perfect  sanitary  preparations. 

"  To  relieve,  as  far  as  I  may  be  able  to  do,  both  difficulties,  I  propose  to 
the  city  government,  as  follows  : 

"  1.  The  city  shall  employ  upon  the  streets,  squares,  and  unoccupied 
lands  in  the  city,  a  force  of  men,  with  proper  implements,  and  under  com- 
petent direction,  to  the  number  of  two  thousand,  for  at  least  thirty  work- 
ing days,  in  putting  those  places  in  such  condition  as,  with  blessing  of 
Providence,  shall  insure  the  health  as  well  of  the  citizens  as  of  the  troops. 

"  The  necessities  of  military  operations  will  detain  in  the  city  a  larger 
number  of  those  who  commonly  leave  it  during  the  summer,  especially  wo- 
men and  children,  than  are  usually  resident  here  during  the  hot  months. 
Their  health  must  be  cared  for  by  you ;  I  will  care  for  my  troops.  The 
miasma  which  sickens  the  one  will  harm  the  other.  The  epidemic  so  earn- 
estly prayed  for  by  the  wicked  will  hardly  sweep  away  the  strong  man, 
although  he  may  be  armed,  and  leave  the  weaker  woman  and  child  un- 
touched. 

"  2.  That  each  man  of  this  force  be  paid  by  the  city  from  its  revenues 
fifty  cents  per  day,  and  a  larger  sum  for  skilled  labor,  for  each  clay's  labor 
of  ten  hours,  toward  the  support  of  their  families,  and  that  in  the  selection 
of  laborers,  men  with  families  dependent  upon  them  be  preferred. 

"  3.  That  the  United  States  shall  issue  to  each  laborer  so  employed,  for 
each  day's  work,  a  full  ration  for  a  soldier,  containing  over  fifty  ounces  of 
wholesome  food,  which,  with  economy,  will  support  a  man  and  a  woman. 

"  This  issue  will  be  fully  equal  in  value,  at  the  present  prices  of  food,  to 
the  sum  paid  by  the  city. 


308  FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOB. 

u4.  That  proper  muster-rolls  be  prepared  of  tlies6  laborers,  and  details 
so  arranged,  that  only  those  that  labor,  with  their  families,  shall  be  fed 
from  this  source. 

"  5.  No  paroled  soldier  or  person  who  has  served  in  the  Confederate 
forces  shall  be  employed,  unless  he  takes  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Uni- 
ted States. 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  arrange  the  details  of  this  proposal  through  the  aid 
of  Colonel  Shafer,  of  the  quartermaster  department,  and  Colonel  Turner, 
of  the  subsistence  department,  as  soon  as  it  has  been  acted  on  by  you." 

General  Shepley  communicated,  this  letter  to  the  council,  who 
readily  adopted  the  plan,  and  appointed  a  gentleman  to  superintend 
their  share  in  it.  On  the  part  of  the  United  States,  General  Shep- 
ley named  Colonel  T.  B.  Thorpe,  the  well-known  author  of  the  "Bee 
Hunter,"  who  had  received  the  appointment  of  city  surveyor.  The 
entire  management  of  the  two  thousand  laborers  fell  to  Colonel 
Thorpe,  as  his  colleague  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  United  States,  which  General  Butler  made  a  sine  qud  non.  UsTo 
man  could  have  done  the  work  better.  He  waged  incessant  and 
most  successful  war  upon  nuisances.  He  tore  away  shanties,  filled 
up  hollows,  purged  the  canals,  cleaned  the  streets,  repaired  the  levee, 
and  kept  the  city  in  such  perfect  cleanliness  as  extorted  praise  from 
the  bitterest  foes  of  his  country  and  his  chief.  In  gangs  of  twenty- 
five,  each  under  an  overseer,  the  street-sweepers  pervaded  the  city. 

"It  was  a  reflecting  sight,"  says  an  eye-witness,  "to  behold 
these  men  on  the  highways  and  by-ways,  with  their  shovels  and 
brooms  ;  and  it  was  still  more  gratifying  to  notice  and  to  feel  the 
happy  effects  of  their  work.  The  street  cleaning  commenced,  the 
colonel  then  undertook  the  distribution  of  the  food  to  the  families 
of  the  laborers,  and  this  was  a  task  of  no  ordinary  magnitude.  A 
thousand  half-starved  women,  made  impatient  by  days  of  starvation, 
brought  in  contact  and  left  to  struggle  at  the  entrance  of  some  ill- 
arranged  establishment,  for  their  food  and  rights,  was  a  formidable 
subject  of  contemplation ;  so  the  colonel  organized  a  distributing 
department,  and  so  well  managed  his  plans  that  the  food  is  being 
given  out  with  all  the  quietness  of  a  popular  grocery.  To  secure 
the  object  of  the  charity,  he  had  tickets  printed  that  made  the  de- 
livery of  the  food  to  the  women  only ;  in  this  way  it  was  carried 
into  the  family,  consumed  by  the  helpless,  and  not  sold  by  the  un- 
principled for  rum.     The  moment  Colonel  Thorpe's  name  appeared 


FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR.  309 

m  the  papers,  he  was  flooded  with  letters  calling  his  attention  to 
nuisances,  the  people  acting  voluntarily  as  street  inspectors.  By  a 
judicious  distribution  of  labor,  in  a  few  days  the  change  became  a 
subject  of  comment,  some  of  the  most  furious  secessionists  admit- 
ting '  that  the  federals  could  clean  the  streets,  if  they  couldn't  do 
anything  else.'  "* 

Colonel  Thorpe's  labors  were  permanently  beneficial  to  the  city 
in  many  ways.  The  freaks  of  the  Mississippi  river  constantly 
create  new  land  within  the  city  limits.  This  land,  which  is 
called  batture  (shoal),  requires  the  labor  of  man  before  it  is  com- 
pletely rescued  from  the  domains  of  the  river.  It  is  computed  that 
Colonel  Thorpe's  skillfully  directed  exertions  upon  the  batture  ad- 
ded to  the  city  a  quantity  of  land  worth  a  million  of  dollars. 

And  this  leads  us  to  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  circum- 
stances attending  General  Butler's  relief  of  the  poor  of  New  Or- 
leans. He  not  only  made  it  profitable  to  the  city,  but  he  managed 
it  so  as  not  to  add  one  dollar  to  the  expenditures  of  his  own  gov- 
ernment. At  a.  time  when  thirty-five  thousand  persons  were  sup- 
ported by  the  public  funds,  he  could  still  boast,  and  with  literal 
truth,  that  it  cost  the  United  States  nothing.  "  You  are  the  cheap- 
est general  we  have  employed,"  said  Mr.  Chase,  when  acknowl- 
edging the  return  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  in  gold,  which  had 
been  sent  to  General  Butler's  commissary. 

The  following  general  order  explains  the  secret : 

"New  Orleans,  Augusts,  1862. 

"  It  appears  that  the  need  of  relief  to  the  destitute  poor  of  the  city  re- 
quires more  extended  measures  and  greater  outlay  than  have  yet  been  made. 

"  It  becomes  a  question,  in  justice,  upon  whom  should  this  burden  fall. 

"  Clearly  upon  those  who  have  brought  this  great  calamity  upon  their 
fellow-citizens. 

"It  should  not  be  borne  by  taxation  of  the  whole  municipality,  because 
the  middling  and  working  men  have  never  been  heard  at  tho  ballot-box, 
unawed  by  threats  and  unmenaced  by  '  Thugs'  and  paid  assassins  of  con- 
spirators against  peace  and  good  order.  Besides,  more  than  the  vote  that 
was  claimed  for  secession  have  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United 
States. 

"  The  United  States  government  does  its  share  when  it  protects,  defends, 
and  preserves  the  people  in  the  enjoyment  of  law,  order,  and  calm  quiet. 

"  Those  who  have  brought  upon  the  city  this  stagnation  of  business,  this 

*  Correspondent  of  New  York  Times,  July  21, 1S62. 


310  FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR. 

desolation  of  the  hearth-stone,  this  starvation  of  the  poor  and  helpless, 
should,  as  far  as  they  may  be  able,  relieve  these  distresses. 

"There  are  two  classes  whom  it  would  seem  peculiarly  fit  should  at  first 
contribute  to  this  end.  First,  those  individuals  and  corporations  who  have 
aided  the  rebellion  with  their  means :  and  second,  those  who  have  endeav- 
ored to  destroy  the  commercial  prosperity  of  the  city,  upon  which  the  wel- 
fare of  its  inhabitants  depend. 

"  It  is  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  commanding  general  that  a  sub- 
scription of  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  was  made  by  the 
corporate  bodies,  business  firms,  and  persons  whose  names  are  set  forth  in 
schedule  '  A'  annexed  to  this  order,  and  that  sum  placed  in  the  hands  of  an 
illegal  body  known  as  the  '  Committee  of  Public  Safety,'  for  the  treason- 
able purpose  of  defending  the  city  against  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  under  whose  humane  rule  the  city  of  New  Orleans  had  enjoyed 
such  unexampled  prosperity,  that  her  warehouses  were  filled  with  trade  of 
all  nations  who  came  to  share  her  freedom,  to  take  part  in  the  benefits  of 
her  commercial  superiority,  and  thus  she  was  made  the  representative  mart 
of  the  world. 

"  The  stupidity  and  wastefulness  with  which  this  immense  sum  was  spent 
was  only  equaled  by  the  folly  which  led  to  its  being  raised  at  all.  The 
subscribers  to  this  fund,  by  this  very  act,  betray  their  treasonable  designs 
and  their  ability  to  pay  at  least  a  much  smaller  tax  for  the  relief  of  their 
destitute  and  starving  neighbors. 

"Schedule  'B'  is  a  list  of  cotton  brokers,  who,  claiming  to  control  that 
great  interest  in  New  Orleans,  to  which  she  is  so  much  indebted  for  her 
wealth,  published  in  the  newspapers,  in  October,  1861,  a  manifesto  deliber- 
ately advising  the  planters  not  to  bring  their  produce  to  the  city,  a  meas- 
ure which  brought  ruin  at  the  same  time  upon  the  producer  and  the  city. 

"  This  act  sufficiently  testifies  the  malignity  of  these  traitors,  as  well  to 
the  government  as  their  neighbors,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  their  abil- 
ity to  relieve  their  fellow-citizens  is  not  equal  to  their  facilities  for  injuring 
them. 

"  In  taxing  both  these  classes  to  relieve  the  suffering  poor  of  New  Or- 
leans, yea,  even  though  the  needy  be  the  starving  wives  and  children  of 
those  in  arms  at  Eichmond  and  elsewhere  against  the  United  States,  it  will 
be  impossible  to  make  a  mistake  save  in  having  the  assessment  too  easy 
and  the  burden  too  light. 

"It  is  therefore  Oedeeed — 

"1st.  That  the  sums  in  schedules  annexed,  marked  'A'  and  'B,'  set 
against  the  names  of  the  several  persons,  business  firms  and  corporations 
herein  described,  be  and  hereby  are  assessed  upon  each  respectively. 

"2d.  That  said  sums  be  paid  to  Lieutenant  David  0.  Gr.  Field,  financial 
clerk,  at  his  office  in  the  Oustom-House,  on  or  before  Monday,  the  11th  in- 


FEEDING    AND    EMPLOYING    THE    POOR.  311 

stant,  or  that  the  property  of  the  delinquent  be  forthwith  seized  and  sold  at 
public  auction,  to  pay  the  amount,  with  all  necessary  charges  and  expenses, 
or  the  party  imprisoned  till  paid. 

"  3d.  The  money  raised  by  this  assessment  to  be  a  fund  for  the  purpose 
of  providing  employment  and  food  for  the  deserving  poor  people  of  New 
Orleans." 

The  promised  schedules  followed.  The  first  contained  ninety-five 
names,  arranged  thus : 

SCHEDULE   A. 

List  of  subscribers  to  the  Million  and  a  Quarter  Loan,  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  for  the  defense  of  New  Orleans  against 
the  United  States,  and  expended  by  them  some  $38,000. 

Sums  subscribed  Sums    assessed 

to  aid  treason  to  relieve  the 

against  the  poor  by  the 

United  States.  United  States. 

Abat,  Generes  &  Co $210,000  $52,500 

Jonathan  Montgomery 40,000  10,000 

Thos.  Sloo,  President  Sun  Insurance  Co 50,000  12,500 

C.  C.  Gaines 2,000  500 

C.  O.  Gaines  &  Co 3,000  750 

The  sum  yielded  by  this  schedule  was  $312,716.25.  The  second 
schedule,  which  contained  ninety-four  names,  began  thus : 

SCHEDULE   B. 

List  of  Cotton  Brokers  of  New  Orleans  who  published  in  the  Crescent,  in 
October  last,  a  card  advising  planters  not  to  send  produce  to  New  Or- 
leans, in  order  to  indace  foreign  intervention  in  behalf  of  the  rebellion. 

Sums  assessed  to  relieve 

the  starving  poor  by 

the  United  States. 

Hewitt,  Norton  &  Co $500 

"West  &  Villerie 250 

S.  E.  Belknap 100 

Brander,  Chambliss  &  Co 500 

Lewis  &  Oglesby 100 

The  amount  of  this  assessment  was  $29,200.  General  Order, 
No.  55,  placed  at  the  disposal  of  General  Butler,  for  the  support  of 
the  poor  of  the  city,  the  sum  of  $341,916.25. 

To  complete  our  knowledge  of  this  unique  transaction,  the  fol- 
lowing brief  documents  are  requisite  : 


312  FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOE. 

"  New  Oeleasts,  August  7th,  1862. 
"  Special  Oedee,  No.  247. 

"  J.  0.  Kicks,  D.  K.  Carroll  and  A.  D.  Kelley,  having  been  absent  from 
the  city  at  the  time  of  drawing  up  the  original  card,  '  advising  planters  not 
to  send  produce  to  New  Orleans,'  but  on  their  return,  having  deemed  it 
advisable  to  issue  a  card,  placing  themselves  in  the  same  position,  are  here- 
by taxed  in  the  sum  of  $500.00  each,  in  accordance  with  General  Order 
No.  55." 

"  New  Obleans,  August  6th,  1862. 
"  Special  Oedee,  No.  244. 

"  The  city  surveyor  and  street  commissioner  are  authorized  to  employ 
not  less  than  one  thousand  men  (including  those  now  employed),  to  work 
on  the  streets,  wharves  and  canals.  In  the  selection  of  these  laborers, 
married  men  will  have  the  preference.  These  men  to  be  paid  out  of  the 
employment  and  relief  fund  raised  by  General  Order  No.  55. 

"  While  this  force  was  paid  by  taxation  of  the  property  of  the  city,  the 
commanding  general  felt  authorized  to  employ  it  only  in  the  most  econom- 
ical manner,  but  it  now  being  employed  at  the  expense  of  their  rebellious 
neighbors,  the  commanding  general  proposes  that  they  shall  be  paid  the 
same  sum  that  was  paid  them  by  the  same  party  for  work  on  the  for- 
tifications, to  wit :  one  dollar  and  a  half  for  each  day's  labor. 

"  The  rations,  heretofore  a  gift  to  these  laborers  by  the  United  States, 
will  now  be  discontinued. 

"  The  order  to  take  effect  from  and  after  the  first  Monday  in  August, 
1862." 

The  effect  produced  by  a  measure  so  boldly  just,  upon  the  minds 
of  the  ruling  class  of  New  Orleans,  can  scarcely  be  imagined.  It 
was  the  more  stunning  from  the  fact,  that  after  three  months'  ex- 
perience of  General  Butler's  government,  his  orders  were  known  to 
be  the  irreversible  fiat  of  irresistible  power.  Every  man  who  saw 
his  name  on  either  catalogue,  was  perfectly  aware  that  the  sum  an- 
nexed thereto  must  be  paid  on  or  before  the  designated  day.  Pro- 
test he  might,  but  pay  he  must.  Money  first ;  argument  afterward. 
The  loyal  Delta,  conducted  then  by  two  officers  of  General  Butler's 
army,  Captain  John  Clark,  formerly  of  the  Hoston  Courier,  and 
Lieutenant-Colonel  E.  M.  Brown,  of  the  Eighth  Vermont,  discoursed 
humorously  upon  the  agitation  in  the  fashionable  quarter  on  the 
day  the  order  was  promulgated : 

"For  the  first  time  these  many  months,  the  habitues  de  la 
r/rande  Rue  (Carondelet),  woke  from   their  lethargy.     Sleek  old 


FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR.  313 

gentlemen,  whose  stomachs  are  distended  with  turtle,  and  who 
sport  ivory-headed  canes,  and  wear  on  their  noses  two-eyed  glasses 
rimmed  with  gold,  came  out  from  their  umbrageous  seclusions  in 
Prytania  street,  Coliseum  Place,  and  other  rural  portions  of  the 
Garden  District,  to  condole  with  each  other  upon  the  once  more 
animated  flags.  At  an  early  hour  knots  of  these  aldermanic  looking 
gentry,  with  white  vests  and  stiffened  shirt  collars,  had  collected  in 
the  vicinity  of  Colonel  Baxter's  corner,  for  the  purpose  of  discuss- 
ing the  merits  of  Order  No.  55,  which  was  destined  to  disturb  the 
equilibrium  of  many  a  cash  balance,  and  to  cause  unwilling  fingers 
to  dive  into  the  depths  of  plethoric  pockets,  long  undisturbed  by 
the  prying  digits  of  their  sumptuous  owners.  It  was  interesting 
to  contemplate  the  sorrowful  visages  of  this  funereal  crowd.  Some 
of  them  had  been  taxed  hundreds,  and  some  to  the  tune  of  thou- 
sands ;  but  all  alike  bore  the  solemn  aspect  of  unresisting  muttons 
led  silently  to  the  slaughter.  They  had  made  their  money  easily,  to  be 
sure,  but  parting  with  it  was  like  pulling  teeth.  Some  of  these  men 
are  worth  a  million  or  two ;  a  few  perhaps  as  much  as  ten  millions 
in  real  estate,  stocks,  bonds,  and  expectations ;  and  others  again 
are  known  as  poor  men,  tolerably  well  to  do,  worth  from  three  to 
five  hundred  thousand  apiece.  For  these  latter  to  be  taxed  as  high 
as  a  hundred  dollars  out  of  the  little  savings  which  they  had  laid 
up  by  means  of  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  advance  on  cotton  crops, 
and  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  commissions,  and  yet  other  per  centa- 
ges  for  brokerage,  and  stealage,  seemed  rather  hard,  at  least  to 
them." 

The  Delta,  however,  assured  the  gentlemen,  and  with  perfect 
truth,  that  lamentations  would  not  do.  "  The  poor  must  be  em- 
ployed and  fed,  and  you  must  disgorge.  It  will  never  do  to  have 
it  said,  that  while  you  lie  back  on  cushioned  divans,  tasting  turtle, 
and  sipping  the  wine  cup,  dressed  in  fine  linen,  and  rolling  in  lordly 
carriages — that  gaunt  hunger  stalked  in  the  once  busy  streets,  and 
poverty  flouted  its  rags  for  the  want  of  the  privilege  to  work." 

There  was  but  one  court  of  appeal  in  New  Orleans,  open  to  a 
distressed  secessionist — the  consulate  of  the  country  of  which  he 
could  claim  to  be  a  citizen.  The  consuls  lent  a  sympathizing  ear  to 
all  complaints,  and  willingly  forwarded  them  to  their  ministers  at 
Washington ;  who,  in  turn,  laid  them  before  the  secretary  of  state, 
The  protest  of  some  of  the  "  neutrals"  in  New  Orleans  gave  Gen 


314  FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR. 

eral  Butler  the  opportunity  to  vindicate  the  justice  of  Order  No.  55, 
and  he  performed  the  task  with  a  master's  hand.  The  following  let- 
ter will  be  found  to  contain  important  and  interesting  history,  some 
curious  geography,  and  much  unanswerable  argument : 

"  Head-quarters,  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
"New  Orleans,   October,  1862. 
"  Hon.  E.   M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  "War : 

"  Sir  : — I  have  the  honor  to  report  the  facts  and  circumstances  of  my 
General  Order  No.  55,  in  answer  to  the  complaints  of  the  Prussian  and 
French  legations,  as  to  the  enforcement  of  that  order  upon  certain  inhabi- 
tants of  New  Orleans,  claimed  to  be  the  subjects  of  these  respective  govern- 
ments. 

"  Before  discussing  the  speciality  and  personal  relations  of  the  several 
complainants,  it  will  be  necessary,  in  a  general  way,  to  give  an  account  of  the 
state  of  things  which  I  found  had  existed,  and  Avas  then  existing  at  New 
Orleans  upon  its  capture  by  the  federal  troops,  to  show  the  status  of  the 
several  classes  upon  which  General  Order  No.  55  takes  effect. 

"  In  October,  1861,  about  the  time  Mason  and  Slidell  left  the  city  upon 
their  mission  to  Europe,,  to  obtain  the  intervention  of  foreign  powers,  great 
hopes  were  entertained  by  the  rebels,  that  the  European  governments  would 
be  induced  to  interfere  from  want  of  a  supply  of  cotton.  This  supply  was 
being  had,  to  a  degree,  through  the  agency  of  the  small  vessels  shooting  out 
by  the  numerous  bayous,  lagoons  and  creeks,  with  which  the  southern  part 
of  Louisiana  is  penetrated.  They  eluded  the  blockade,  and  conveyed  very 
considerable  amounts  of  cotton  to  Havana  and  other  foreign  ports,  where 
arms  and  munitions  of  war  were  largely  imported  through  the  same  chan- 
nels in  exchange.  Indeed,  as  I  have  before  had  the  honor  to  inform  the  de- 
partment of  state,  it  was  made  a  condition  of  the  very  passes  given  by 
Governor  Moore,  that  a  quantity  of  arms  and  powder  should  be  returned  in 
proportion  to  the  cotton  shipped. 

"  The  very  high  prices  of  the  outward  as  well  as  the  inward  cargoes, 
made  these  ventures  profitable,  although  but  one  in  three  got  through  with 
safety. 

"  Nor  does  the  fact,  that  so  considerable  quantities  of  cotton  escaped  the 
blockading  force  at  all  impugn  the  efficiency  of  the  blockading  squadron, 
when  it  is  taken  into  consideration,  that  without  using  either  of  the  princi- 
pal water  communications  with  the  city  through  the  'Rigolets"  or  the 
1  Passes'  at  the  Delta  of  the  river,  there' are  at  least  fifty -three  distinct  outlets 
to  the  gulf  from  New  Orleans  by  water  communication,  by  light- d  ran  ah  t 
vessels.  Of  course,  not  a  pound  of  the  cotton  that  went  through  these 
channels  found  its  way  north,  unless  it  was  purchased  at  a  foreign  port. 
To  prevent  even  this  supply  of  the  European  manufactures  became  an  ob- 


FEEDING   AND    EMPLOYING    THE    POOR.  315 

jfict  of  the  greatest  interest  to  the  rebels;  and  prior  to  October,  1861,  all 
the  principal  cotton  factors  of  New  Orleans,  to  the  number  of  about  a 
hundred,  united  in  an  address,  signed  with  their  names,  to  the  planters,  ad- 
vising them  not  to  send  their  cotton  to  New  Orleans,  for  the  avowed  reason 
that  if  it  was  sent,  the  cotton  would  find  its  way  to  foreign  ports,  and  fur- 
nish the  interest  '  of  Europe  and  the  United  States  with  the  product  of 
which  they  are  most  in  need,  *  *  *  *  and  thus  contribute  to  the  main- 
tenance of  that  quasi  neutrality,  which  European  nations  have  thought 
proper  to  avow.' 

"  'This  address  proving  ineffectual  to  maintain  the  policy  we  had  deter- 
mined upon,  and  which  not  only  received  the  sanction  of  public  opinion 
here,  but  which  has  been  so  promptly  and  cheerfully  followed  by  the  plant- 
ers and  factors  of  the  other  states  of  the  Confederacy,'  the  same  cotton  fac- 
tors made  a  petition  to  Governor  Moore  and  General  Twiggs,  to  '  devise 
means  to  prevent  any  shipment  of  cotton  to  New  Orleans  whatever.' 

"For  answer  to  this  petition,  Governor  Moore  issued  a  proclamation  for- 
bidding the  bringing  of  cotton  within  the  limits  of  the  city,  under  the  pen- 
alties therein  prescribed. 

"  This  action  was  concurred  in  by  General  Twiggs,  then  in  command  of 
the  Confederate  forces,  and  enforced  by  newspaper  articles,  published  in  the 
leading  journals. 

"  This  was  one  of  the  series  of  offensive  measures  which  were  undertaken 
by  the  mercantile  community  of  New  Orleans,  of  which  a  large  portion 
were  foreigners,  and  of  which  the  complainant  of  Order  No.  55  formed  a 
part,  in  aid  of  the  rebellion. 

"  The  only  cotton  allowed  to  be  shipped  during  the  autumn  and  winter 
of  1861  and  '62,  was  by  permits  of  Governor  Moore,  granted  upon  the  ex- 
press condition,  that  at  least  one-half  in  value  should  be  returned  in  arms 
and  munitions  of  war.  In  this  traffic,  almost  the  entire  mercantile  houses 
of  New  Orleans  were  engaged.  Joint-stock  companies  were  formed,  shares 
issued,  vessels  bought,  cargoes  shipped,  arms  returned,  immense  profits  re- 
alized ;  and  the  speculation  and  trading  energy  of  the  whole  community 
was  turned  in  this  direction.  It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  quite  two-thirds 
of  the  trading  community  were  foreign  born,  and  now  claim  exemption 
from  all  duties  as  citizens,  and  exemption  from  liabilities  for  all  their  acts, 
because  of  being  l  foreign  neutrals.' 

"  When  the  expedition  which  I  had  the  high  honor  to  be  intrusted  to 
command,  landed  at  Ship  Island,  and  seemed  to  threaten  New  Orleans,  the 
most  energetic  efforts  were  made  by  the  state  and  Confederate  authorities 
for  the  defense  of  the  city.  Nearly  the  entire  foreign  population  of  the  city 
enrolled  itself  in  companies,  battalions,  and  brigades,  representing  different 
nationalities. 

"  They  were   armed,  uniformed,  and  equipped,  drilled  and  maneuvered. 
14 


316  FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOE. 

and  reported  for  service  to  the  Confederate  generals.  Many  of  the  foreign 
officers  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Confederate  States.  The  briga- 
dier-general in  command  of  the  European  Brigade,  Paul  Juge,  File,  a  natu- 
ralized citizen  of  the  United  States,  but  born  in  France,  renounced  his 
citizenship,  and  applied  to  the  French  government  to  be  restored  to  his  for- 
mer citizenship  as  a  native  of  France,  at  the  very  time  he  held  the  command 
of  this  foreign  legion. 

"The  Prussian  consul,  now  General  Eeichard,  of  the  Confederate  army, 
of  whom  we  shall  have  more  to  say  in  the  course  of  this  report,  raised  a 
battalion  of  his  countrymen,  and  went  to  Virginia,  where  he  has  been  pro- 
moted for  his  gallantry  in  the  rebel  service,  leaving  his  commercial  partner, 
Mr.  Kruttschnidt,  now  acting  Prussian  consul,  who  has  married  the  sister  of 
the  rebel  secretary  of  war,  to  embarrass  as  much  as  possible  the  United 
States  officers  here,  by  subscriptions  to  '  city  defense  funds,'  and  groundless 
complaints  to  the  Prussian  minister. 

"  I  have  thus  endeavored  to  give  a  faithful  and  exact  account  of  the  state 
of  the  foreign  population  of  New  Orleans,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  February, 
1862. 

uIn  October,  1861,  the  city  had  voted  to  erect  a  battery  out  of  this 
*  defense  fund.'  On  the  19th  of  February,  1862,  the  city  council,  by  vote, 
published  and  commented  upon  in  the  newspapers,  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  Confederate  General  Lovell,  fifty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  expended  by 
him  in  the  defenses  of  the  city. 

"  It  will,  therefore,  clearly  appear  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  city 
knew  that  the  city  council  were  raising  and  expending  large  sums  for  war 
purposes. 

"  On  the  20th  of  the  same  February,  the  city  council  raised  an  extraor- 
dinary '  Committee  of  Public  Safety,'  from  the  body  of  the  inhabitants  at 
large,  consisting  of  sixty  members,  for  the  '  purpose  of  co-operating  with 
the  Confederate  and  state  authorities  in  devising  means  for  the  defense  of 
the  city  and  its  approaches.' 

"  On  the  27th  of  the  same  February,  the  city  council  adopted  a  series  of 
resolutions : — 

"  1st.  Kecommending  the  issue  of  one  million  dollars  of  city  bonds, 
for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  and  to  provide 
for  the  successful  defense  of  the  city  and  its  approaches. 

"2d.  To  appropriate  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  for  the  purpose  of 
uniforming  and  equipping  soldiers  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  country. 

M  3d.  Pledging  the  council  to  support  the  families  of  all  soldiers  who 
shall  volunteer  for  the  war. 

"  On  the  3d  of  March,  1862,  the  city  council  authorized  the  mayor  to 
issue  the  bonds  of  the  city  for  a  million  of  dollars  ;  and  provided  that  the 
chairman  of  the  finance  committee  might  '  pay  over  the  said  bonds  to  the 


FEEDING    AND   EMPLOYING   THE   TOOB.  317 

Committee  of  Public  Safety,  appointed  by  the  common  council  of  the  city 
of  New  Orleans,  as  per  resolution,  No.  8,930,  approved  20th  of  February, 
18G2,  in  such  sums  as  they  may  require  for  the  purchase  of  arms  and  mu 
nitions  of  war,  provisions,  or  to  provide  any  means  for  the  successful 
defense  of  the  city  and  its  approaches.' 

"And,  at  the  same  time,  authorized  the  chairman  of  the  finance  com- 
mittee '  to  pay  over  $25,000  to  troops  mustered  into  the  state  service,  who 
should  go  to  the  fight  at  Columbus  or  elsewhere,  under  General  Beaure- 
gard.' 

"  It  was  to  this  fund,  in  the  hands  of  this  extraordinary  committee,  so 
published  with  its  objects  and  purposes,  that  the  complainants  subscribed 
their  money,  and  now  claim  exemption  upon  the  ground  of  neutrality, 
and  want  of  knowledge  of  the  purposes  of  the  fund. 

u  It  will  be  remembered  that  all  the  steps  of  the  raising  of  the  committee 
to  dispose  of  this  fund  were  published,  and  were  matters  of  great  public 
notoriety.  The  fact  that  the  bonds  were  in  the  hands  of  such  an  extraor- 
dinary- committee,  should  have  put  every  prudent  person  on  his  guard. 

"  All  the  leading  secessionists  of  the  city  were  subscribers  to  the  same 
fund. 

:'Will  it  be  pretended  for  a  moment  that  these  persons — bankers,  mer- 
chants, brokers,  who  are  making  this  complaint,  did  not  know  what  this 
fund  was,  and  its  purposes,  to  which  they  were  subscribing  by  thousands 
of  dollars? 

"  Did  Mr.  Rochereau  for  instance,  who  had  taken  an  oath  to  support  the 
Confederate  States,  a  banker,  and  then  a  colonel  commanding  a  body  of 
troops  in  the  service  of  the  Confederates,  never  hear  for  what  purpose  the 
city  was  raising  a  million  and  a  quarter  in  bonds  ? 

"  Take  the  Prussian  consul,  who  complains  for  himself  and  the  Mrs.  Vo- 
gel  whom  he  represents,  as  an  example.  Did  he  know  about  this  fund? 
He,  a  trader,  a  Jew  famed  for  a  bargain,  who  had  married  the  sister  of  the 
rebel  secretary  of  war,  the  partner  of  General  Reichard,  late  Prussian  con- 
sul, then  in  command  in  the  Confederate  army,  who  subscribed  for  himself, 
his  partner  and  Mrs.  Vogel,  the  wife  of  his  former  partner,  thirty  thousand 
dollars — did  he  not  know  what  he  was  doing,  when  he  bought  these  bonds 
of  this  '  Committee  of  Public  Safety  ?' 

"  On  the  contrary,  it  was  done  to  aid  the  rebellion  to  which  he  was 
bound  by  his  sympathies,  his  social  relations,  his  business  connections  and 
marriage  ties.  But  it  is  said  that  this  subscription  is  made  to  the  fund  for 
the  sake  of  the  investment.  It  will  appear,  however,  by  a  careful  examina- 
tion, that  Mr.  Kruttschnidt  collected  for  his  principal  a  note,  secured  by 
mortgage,  in  anticipation  of  its  being  due,  in  order  to  purchase  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  of  this  loan.  Without,  however,  descending  into  particu- 
lars, is  the  profitableness  of  the  investment  to  be  permitted  to  be  alleged  as 


318  FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR. 

a  sufficient  apology  for  aiding  tha  rebellion  by  money  and  arms  ?  If  so, 
all  their  army  contractors,  principally  Jews,  should  be  held  blameless,  for 
they  have  made  immense  fortunes  by  the  war.  Indeed,  I  suppose  another 
Jew — one  Judas— thought  his  investment  in  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  was 
a  profitable  one,  until  the  penalty  of  treachery  reached  him. 

u  When  I  took  possession  of  New  Orleans,  I  found  the  city  nearly  on 
the  verge  of  starvation,  but  thirty  days'  provision  in  it,  and  the  poor  utter- 
ly without  the  means  of  procuring  what  food  there  was  to  be  had. 

"  I  endeavored  to  aid  the  city  government  in  the  work  of  feeding  the 
poor  ;  but  I  soon  found  that  the  very  distribution  of  food  was  a  means 
faithlessly  used  to  encourage  the  rebellion.  I  was  obliged,  therefore,  to  take 
the  whole  matter  into  my  own  hands.  It  became  a  subject  of  alarming 
importance  and  gravity.  It  became  necessary  to  provide  from  some  source 
the  funds  to  procure  the  food.  They  could  not  be  raised  by  city  taxation, 
in  the  ordinary  form.  These  taxes  were  in  arrears  to  more  than  a  million 
of  dollars.  Besides,  it  would  be  unjust  to  tax  the  loyal  citizens  and  hon- 
estly neutral  foreigner,  to  provide  for  a  state  of  things  brought  about  by 
the  rebels  and  disloyal  foreigners  related  to  them  by  ties  of  blood,  marriage, 
and  social  relation,  who  had  conspired  and  labored  together  to  overthrow 
the  authority  of  the  United  States,  and  establish  the  very  result  which  was 
to  be  met. 

"Farther,  in  order  to  have  a  contribution  effective,  it  must  be  upon  those 
who  have  wealth  to  answer  it. 

"There  seemed  to  me  no  such  fit  subjects  for  such  taxation  as  the  cotton 
brokers  who  had  brought  the  distress  upon  the  city,  by  thus  paralyzing 
commerce,  and  the  subscribers  to  this  loan,  who  had  money  to  invest  for 
purposes  of  war,  so  advertised  and  known  as  above  described. 

"  With  these  convictions,  I  issued  General  Order  No.  55,  which  will  ex- 
plain itself,  and  have  raised  nearly  the  amount  of  the  tax  therein  set  forth. 

"  But  for  what  purpose  ?  Not  a  dollar  has  gone  in  any  way  to  the  use  of 
the  United  States.  I  am  now  employing  one  thousand  poor  laborers,  as 
matter  of  charity,  upon  the  streets  and  wharves  of  the  city,  from  this  fund. 
I  am  distributing  food  to  preserve  from  starvation  nine  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  seven  families,  containing  'thirty-two  thousand  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  souls'  daily,  and  this  done  at  an  expense  of  seventy  thousand 
dollars  per  month.  I  am  sustaining,  at  an  expense  of  two  thousand  dollars 
per  month,  five  asylums  for  widows  and  orphans.  I  am  aiding  the  Charity 
hospital  to  the  extent  of  five  thousand  dollars  per  month. 

"  Before  their  excellencies,  the  French  and  Prussian  ministers,  complain 
of  my  exactions  upon  foreigners  at  New  Orleans,  I  desire  they  would  look 
at  the  documents,  and  consider  for  a  few  moments  the  facts  and  figures  set 
forth  in  the  returns  and  in  this  report.  They  will  find  that  out  of  ten  thou- 
sand four  hundred  and  ninety  families  who  have  been  fed  from  the  funds 


FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR.  319 

with  the  raising  of  which  they  find  fault,  less  than  one-tenth  (one  thousand 
and  ten)  are  Americans ;  nine  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty  are  for- 
eigners. Of  the  thirty-two  thousand  souls,  but  three  thousand  are  natives. 
Besides,  the  charity  at  the  asylums  and  hospitals  distributed  in  about 
the  same  proportions  as  to  foreign  and  native  born ;  so  that  of  an  expendi- 
ture of  near  eighty  thousand  dollars  per  month,  to  employ  and  feed  the 
starving  poor  of  New  Orleans,  seventy- two  thousand  goes  to  the  foreigners, 
whose  compatriots  loudly  complain,  and  offensively  thrust  forward  their 
neutrality,  whenever  they  are  called  upon  to  aid  their  suffering  country- 
men. 

"  I  should  need  no  extraordinary  taxation  to  feed  the  poor  of  New  Or- 
leans, if  the  bellies  of  the  foreigners  were  as  actively  with  the  rebels,  as  are 
the  heads  of  those  who  claim  exemption,  thus  far,  from  this  taxation,  made 
and  used  for  purposes  above  set  forth,  upon  the  ground  of  their  neutrality ; 
among  whom  I  find  Rochereau  &  Co.,  the  senior  partner  of  which  firm  took 
an  oath  of  allegiance  to  support  the  constitution  of  the  Confederate  States. 

"  I  find  also  the  house  of  Eeichard  &  Co.,  the  senior  partner  of  which, 
General  Reichard,  is  in  the  rebel  army.    I  find  the  junior  partner,  Mr.  Krutt 
schnidt,  the  brother-in-law  of  Benjamin,  the  rebel  secretary  of  war,  using 
all  the  funds  in  his  hands  to  purchase  arms,  and  collecting  the  securities  of 
his  correspondent  before  they  are  due,  to  get  funds  to  loan  to  the  rebel  au- 
thorities, and  now  acting  Prussian  consul  here,  doing  quite  as  effective  ser- 
vice to  the  rebels  as  bis  partner  in  the  field.     I  find  Mme.  Vogel,  late  part 
ner  in  the  same  house  of  Reichard  &  Co.,  now  absent,  whose  funds  are  man 
aged  by  that  house.     I  find  M.  Paesher  &  Co.,  bankers,  whose  clerks  and 
employes  formed  a  part  of  the  French  legion,  organized  to  fight  the  United 
States,  and  who  contributed  largely  to  arm  and  equip  that  corps.     And  a 
Mr.  Lewis,  whose  antecedents  I  have  not  had  time  to  investigate. 

"  And  these  are  fair  specimens  of  the  neutrality  of  the  foreigners,  for 
whom  the  government  is  called  upon  to  interfere,  to  prevent  their  paying 
anything  toward  the  Relief  Fund  for  their  starving  countrymen. 

11  If  the  representatives  of  the  foreign  governments  will  feed  their  own 
starving  people,  over  whom  the  only  protection  they  extend,  so  far  as  I  see, 
is  to  tax  them  all,  poor  and  rich,  a  dollar  and  a  half  each  for  certificates  of 
nationality,  I  will  release  the  foreigners  from  all  the  exactions,  fines,  and 
imposts  whatever.     I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

"Benjamin  F.  Butler, 

"  Major-  General  Commanding.'''' 

There  is  the  whole  case,  written  out,  as  all  of  General  Butler's 
dispatches  were,  late  at  night,  after  twelve  or  fifteen  hours  of  intense 
exertion.     After  such  a  reaper  there  is  scanty  gleaning. 

Let  me  add,  however,  that  among  the  documents  relating  to  the 


620  FEEDING  AKD  EMPLOYING  THE  POOR. 

expedition  may  be  found  many  little  notes,  written  in  an  educated, 
feminine  hand,  conveying  to  General  Butler  the  thanks  of  "  Sister 
Emily,"  "Mother  Alphonso,"  and  other  Catholic  ladies,  for  the 
assistance  afforded  by  him  to  the  orphans,  the  widows,  and  the 
sick  under  their  charge ;  "  whose  prayers,"  they  add,  "  will  daily 
ascend  to  Heaven  in  his  behalf."  During  the  latter  half  of  his  ad- 
ministration, the  charities  of  New  Orleans  were  almost  wholly  sus- 
tained from  the  funds  wrung  from  "  neutral"  foes  by  Order  No.  55. 
The  great  Charity  hospital  received,  as  we  have  seen,  five  thousand 
a  month.  To  the  orphans  of  St.  Elizabeth,  when  the  public  funds 
ran  low,  the  general  gave  five  hundred  dollars  of  his  own  money, 
besides  ordering  rations  from  the  public  stores  at  his  own  charge, 
and  causing  the  Confederate  notes  held  by  the  asylum  to  be  dis- 
posed of  to  the  best  advantage.  A  commission  was  appointed, 
after  a  time,  to  inquire  into  the  condition  and  needs  of  all  the  asy- 
lums, hospital  and  charity  schools  in  the  city,  and  to  report  the 
amount  of  aid  proper  to  be  allowed  to  each.  The  report  of  the 
commission  shows,  that  the  rations  granted  them  by  General  Butler 
were  all  that  enabled  them  to  continue  their  ministrations  to  the 
helpless  and  the  ignorant,  the  widow,  the  orphan,  and  the  sick. 

I  may  afford  space  for  a  letter  addressed  by  the  commanding 
general  to  the  Superior  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  upon  the  occasion 
of  the  accidental  injury  of  their  edifice  during  the  bombardment  of 
Donaldsonville.  It  is  not  precisely  the  kind  of  utterance  which  we 
should  naturally  expect  from  a  "  Beast." 

"  Head-quaetees,  Depaetment  of  the  Gulf, 
'*  New  Oeleans,  September  2d,  1862. 

"  Madame  :  I  h°d  no  information  until  the  reception  of  your  note,  that 
so  sad  a  result  to  the  sisters  of  your  command  had  happened  from  the  bom- 
bardmert  of  Donaldsonville. 

11 1  am  very,  very  sorry  that  Rear- Admiral  Farragut  was  unaware  that 
he  was  injuring  your  establishment  by  his  shells.  Any  injury  must  have 
been  entirely  accidental.  The  destruction  of  that  town  became  a  necessity. 
The  inhabitants  harbored  a  gang  of  cowardly  guerillas,  who  committed 
every  atrocity;  amongst  others,  that  of  firing  upon  an  unarmed  boat  crowded 
with  women  and  children,  going  up  the  coast,  returning  to  their  homes, 
many  of  them  having  been  at  school  at  New  Orleans. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  allow  such  acts ;  and  I  am  only  sorry  that  the  right- 
eous punishment  meted  out  to  them  in  this  instance,  as  indeed  in  all  others, 
fell  quite  as  heavily  upon  the  innocent  and  unoffending  as  upon  the  guilty. 


FEEDING  AND  EMPLOYING  THE  POOK.  321 

"  Xo  one  can  appreciate  more  fully  than  myself  the  holy,  self-sacrificing 
labors  of  the  sisters  of  charity.  To  them  our  soldiers  are  daily  indebted 
for  the  kindest  offices.  Sisters  of  all  mankind,  they  know  no  nation,  no 
kindred,  neither  war  nor  peace.  Their  all-pervading  charity  is  like  the 
boundless  love  of  'Him  who  died  for  all,'  whose  servants  they  are,  and 
whose  pure  teachings  their  love  illustrates. 

"  I  repeat  the  expression  of  my  grief,  that  any  harm  should  have  befallen 
your  society  of  sisters ;  and  I  cheerfully  repair  it,  as  far  as  I  may,  in  the 
manner  you  suggest,  by  filling  the  order  you  have  sent  to  the  city  for  pro- 
visions and  medicines. 

''  Your  sisters  in  the  city  will  also  farther  testify  to  you,  that  my  officers 
and  soldiers  have  never  failed  to  do  to  them  all  in  their  power  to  aid  them 
in  their  usefulness,  and  to  lighten  the  burden  of  their  labors. 

"With  sentiments  of  the  highest  respect,  believe  me,  your  friend, 

"Benjamin  F.  Butleb. 

"  Santa  Maria  Claea, 

"  Superior  and  Sister  of  Charity.''1 

The  relief  afforded  by  Order  No.  55,  liberal  as  it  was,  did  but 
alleviate  the  distresses  of  the  poor.  The  whole  land  was  stricken. 
The  frequent  marching  of  armed  bodies  swept  the  country  of  the 
scanty  produce  of  a  soil  deserted  by  the  ablest  of  its  proprietors. 
In  the  city,  life  was  just  endurable ;  beyond  the  Union  lines,  most 
of  the  people  were  hungry,  half  naked,  and  without  medicine. 

"  The  condition  of  the  people  here,"  wrote  General  Butler  to 
General  Halleck,  September  1st,  "  is  a  very  alarming  one.  They 
literally  come  down  to  starvation.  Not  only  in  the  city,  but  in 
the  country ;  planters  who,  in  peaceful  times,  would  have  spent  the 
summer  at  Saratoga,  are  now  on  their  plantations,  essentially 
without  food.  Hundreds  weekly,  by  stealth,  are  coming  across 
the  lake  to  the  city,  reporting  starvation  on  the  lake  shore.  I  am 
distributing,  in  various  ways,  about  fifty  thousand  dollars  per  month 
in  food,  and  more  is  needed.  This  is  to  the  whites.  My  commis- 
sary is  issuing  rations  to  the  amount  of  nearly  double  the  amount 
required  by  the  troops.     This  is  to  the  blacks. 

"  They  are  now  coming  in  by  hundreds — say  thousands — almost 
daily.  Many  of  the  plantations  are  deserted  along  the  "  coast," 
which,  in  this  country's  phrase,  means  the  river,  from  the  city  to 
Natchez.  Crops  of  sugar-cane  are  left  standing,  to  waste,  which 
would  make  millions  of  dollars  worth  of  sugar." 

Such  were  some  of  the  fruits  of  this  most  disastrous  and  most 


322  THE   WOMAN-    ORDER. 

beneficent  of  all  wars.  Such  were  some  of  the  difficulties  with 
which  the  commander  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  had  to  con- 
tend during  the  whole  period  of  his  administration.  Clothed  with 
powTers  more  than  imperial,  such  were  some  of  the  uses  to  which 
those  powers  were  devoted. 

The  government  sustained  Order  No.  55.  In  December,  the 
money  derived  from  it  having  been  exhausted,  the  measure  was 
repeated. 

"  New  Orleans,  December  9,  1862. 

"  Under  General  Order  No.  55,  current  series,  from  these  head-quarters, 
au  assessment  was  made  upon  certain  parties  who  had  aided  the  rebellion, 
'to  be  appropriated  to  the  relief  of  the  starving  poor  of  New  Orleans.'  " 

"  The  calls  upon  the  fund  raised  under  that  order  have  been  frequent 
and  urgent,  and  it  is  now  exhausted. 

"  But  the  poor  of  this  city  have  the  same,  or  increased  necessities  for  re- 
lief as  then,  and  their  calls  must  be  heard ;  and  it  is  both  fit  and  proper 
that  the  parties  responsible  for  the  present  state  of  affairs  should  have  the 
burden  of  their  support. 

"  Therefore,  the  parties  named  in  Schedules  A  and  B,  of  General  Order 
No.  55,  as  hereunto  annexed,  are  assessed  in  like  sums,  and  for  the  same 
purpose,  and  will  make  payment  to  D.  0.  G.  Field,  financial  clerk,  at  his 
office,  at  these  head-quarters,  on  or  before  Monday,  December  15,  1862." 


CHAPTER  XVm. 

THE   WOMAN"   ORDER. 


It  concerns  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  know  that  seces- 
sion, regarded  as  a  spiritual  malady,  is  incurable.  Every  one  knows 
this  who,  by  serving  on  "  the  frontiers  of  the  rebellion,"  has  been 
brought  in  contact  with  its  leaders.  General  Rosecrans  knows  it. 
General  Grant  knows  it.  General  Burnside  knows  it.  General 
Butler  knows  it.  True,  a  large  number  of  Southern  men  w-ho 
have  been  touched  with  the  epidemic,  have  recovered  or  are  recov- 
ering.    But  the  hundred   and  fifty  thousand  men  who  own  the 


THE    WO  MAX    ORDER.  323 

slaves  of  the  South,  who  own  the  best  of  the  lands,  who  have 
always  controlled  its  politics  and  swayed  its  drawing-rooms,  in 
whom  the  disease  is  hereditary  or  original,  whom  it  possesses  and 
pervades,  like  the  leprosy  or  the  scrofula,  or,  rather,  like  the  false- 
ness of  the  Stuarts  and  the  imbecility  of  the  Bourbons — these  men 
will  remain,  as  long  as  they  draw  the  breath  of  life,  enemies  of  all 
the  good  meaning  which  is  summed  up  in  the  words,  United  States. 
It  is  from  studying  the  characters  of  these  people  that  we  moderns 
may  learn  why  it  was  that  the  great  Cromwell  and  his  heroes 
called  the  adherents  of  the  mean  and  cruel  Stuarts  by  the  name  of 
"  Malignants."  They  may  be  rendered  innoxious  by  destroying 
their  power,  i.  e.,  by  abolishing  slavery,  which  is  their  power ;  but, 
as  to  converting  them  from  the  error  of  their  minds,  that  is  not 
possible. 

General  Butler  was  aware  of  this  from  the  beginning  of  the 
rebellion,  and  his  experience  in  New  Orleans  was  daily  confirma- 
tion of  his  belief.  Hence,  his  attitude  toward  the  ruling  class  was 
warlike,  and  he  strove  in  all  ways  to  isolate  that  class,  and  bring  the 
majority  of  the  people  to  see  who  it  was  that  had  brought  all  this 
needless  ruin  upon  their  state;  and  thus  to  array  the  majority 
against  the  few.  Throwing  the  whole  weight  of  his  power  against 
the  oligarchy,  he  endeavored  to  save  and  conciliate  the  people, 
whom  it  was  the  secret  design  of  the  leaders  to  degrade  and  dis- 
franchise. He  Avas  in  New  Orleans  as  a  general  wielding  the  power 
of  his  government,  and  as  a  democrat  representing  its  principles. 

The  first  month  of  his  administration  was  signalized  by  several 
warlike  acts  and  utterances,  aimed  at  the  Spirit  of  Secession ;  some 
of  which  excited  a  clamor  throughout  the  whole  secession  world,  on 
both  continents,  echoes  of  which  are  still  occasionally  heard. 

The  following  requires  no  explanation : 

"  New  Orleans,  May  13,  1862. 

"  It  having  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  commanding  general  that 
Friday  next  is  proposed  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  in 
obedience  to  some  supposed  proclamation  of  one  Jefferson  Davis,  in  the 
several  churches  of  this  city,  it  is  ordered  that  no  such  observance  be 
had. 

"  '  Churches  and  religious  houses  are  to  be  kept  open  as  in  time  of  pro-^ 
found  peace,'  but  no  religious  exercises  are  to  be  had  upon  the  supposed 
authority  above  mentioned." 
It* 


324  THE   WOMAN-    ORDER. 

This  was  General  Order  No.  27.  The  one  next  issued,  the  fa- 
mous Order  No.  28,  which  relates  to  the  conduct  of  some  of  the 
women  of  New  Orleans,  can  not  be  dismissed  quite  so  summarily. 

One  might  have  expected  to  find  among  the  women  of  the  South 
many  abolitionists  of  the  most  "  radical"  description.  As  upon  the 
white  race  the  blighting  curse  of  slavery  chiefly  falls,  so  the  women 
of  that  race  suffer  the  consequences  of  the  system  which  are  the  most 
degrading  and  the  most  painful.  It  leads  their  husbands  astray,  de- 
bauches their  brothers  and  their  sons,  enervates  and  coarsens  their 
daughters.  The  wastefulness  of  the  institution,  its  bungling  stu- 
pidity, the  heavy  and  needless  burdens  it  imposes  upon  house- 
keepers, would  come  home,  we  should  think,  to  the  minds  of  all 
women  not  wholly  incapable  of  reflection.  I  am  able  to  state,  that 
here  and  there,  in  the  South,  even  in  the  cotton  states,  there  are 
ladies  who  feel  all  the  enormity,  and  comprehend  the  immense  stu- 
pidity of  slavery.  I  have  heard  them  avow  their  abhorrence  of  it. 
One  in  particular,  I  remember,  on  the  borders  of  South  Carolina 
itself,  a  mother,  glancing  covertly  at  her  languid  son,  and  saying  in 
the  low  tone  of  despair : 

"  You  cannot  tell  me  anything  about  slavery.  We  women  know 
what  it  is,  if  the  men  do  not." 

But  it  is  the  law  of  nature  that  the  men  and  women  of 
a  community  shall  be  morally  equal.  If  all  the  women  were 
made,  by  miracle,  perfectly  good,  and  all  the  men  perfectly  bad,  in 
one  generation  the  moral  equality  would  be  restored — the  men 
vastly  improved,  the  women  reduced  to  the  average  of  human 
worth.  Consequently,  we  find  the  women  of  the  South  as  much 
corrupted  by  slavery  as  the  men,  and  not  less  zealous  than  the  men 
in  this  insolent  attempt  to  rend  their  country  in  pieces.  In  truth, 
they  are  more  zealous,  since  women  are  naturally  more  vehement 
and  enthusiastic  than  men.  The  women  of  New  Orleans,  too,  all 
had  husbands,  sons,  brothers,  lovers  or  friends,  in  the  Confederate 
army.  To  blame  the  women  of  a  community  for  adhering,  with 
their  whole  souls,  to  a  cause  for  which  their  husbands,  brothers, 
sons  and  lovers  are  fighting,  would  be  to  arraign  the  laws  of  nature. 
But  then  there  is  a  choice  of  methods  by  which  that  adherence  may 
De  manifested. 

When  General  Butler  was  passing  through  Baltimore,  on  his 
way  to  New  Orleans,  he  observed  the  mode  in  which  the  Union 


THE    WOMAN    ORDER.  325 

soldiers  stationed  there  were  accustomed  to  behave  when  passing 
by  ladies  who  wore  the  secession  flag  on  their  bosoms.  The  ladies, 
on  approaching  a  soldier,  would  suddenly  throw  aside  their  cloaks 
or  shawls  to  display  the  badge  of  treason.  The  soldier  would  re- 
tort by  lifting  the  tail  of  his  coat,  to  show  the  rebel  flag  doing  duty, 
apparently,  as  a  large  patch  on  the  seat  of  his  trousers.  The  general 
noted  the  circumstance  well.  It  occurred  to  him  then  that,  perhaps, 
a  more  decent  way  could  be  contrived  to  shame  the  heroines  of 
secession  out  of  their  silly  tricks. 

The  women  of  New  Orleans  by  no  means  confined  themselves  to 
the  display  of  minute  rebel  flags  on  their  persons.  They  were  in- 
solently and  vulgarly  demonstrative.  They  would  leave  the  side- 
walk, on  the  approach  of  Union  officers,  and  walk  around  them  into 
the  middle  of  the  street,  with  up-turned  noses  and  insulting  words. 
On  passing  privates,  they  would  make  a  great  ostentation  of  draw- 
ing away  their  dresses,  as  if  from  the  touch  of  pollution.  Secession 
colors  were  conspicuously  worn  upon  the  bonnets.  If  a  Union 
officer  entered  a  street  car,  all  the  ladies  in  it  would  frequently 
leave  the  vehicle,  with  every  expression  of  disgust ;  even  in  church 
the  same  spirit  was  exhibited — ladies  leaving  the  pews  entered 
by  a  Union  officer.  The  female  teachers  of  the  public  schools 
kept  their  pupils  singing  rebel  songs,  and  advised  the  girls  to 
make  manifest  their  contempt  for  the  soldiers  of  the  Union. 
Parties  of  ladies  upon  the  balconies  of  houses,  would  turn  their 
backs  when  soldiers  were  passing  by ;  while  one  of  them  would 
run  in  to  the  piano,  and  thump  out  the  Bonny  Blue  Flag,  with  the 
energy  that  lovely  woman  knows  how  to  throw  into  a  performance 
of  that  kind.  One  woman,  a  very  fine  lady,  too,  swept  away  her 
skirts,  on  one  occasion,  with  so  much  violence  as  to  lose  her  balance, 
and  she  fell  into  the  gutter.  The  two  officers  whose  proximity  had 
excited  her  ire,  approached  to  offer  their  assistance.  She  spurned 
them  from  her,  saying,  that  she  would  rather  lie  in  the  gutter  than 
be  helped  out  by  Yankees.  She  afterward  related  the  circum- 
stance to  a  Union  officer,  and  owned  that  she  had  in  reality  felt 
grateful  to  the  officers  for  their  politeness,  and  added  that  Order 
No.  28  served  the  women  right.  The  climax  of  these  absurdities 
was  reached  when  a  beast  of  a  woman  spat  in  the  faces  of  two  offi- 
cers, who  were  walking  peacefully  along  the  street. 

It  was  this  last  event  which  determined  General  Butler  to  take 


326  THE    WOMAN    ORDEE. 

public  notice  of  the  conduct  of  the  women.  At  first  their  exhibitions 
and  affectations  of  spleen  merely  amused  the  objects  of  them; 
who  were  accustomed  to  relate  them  to  their  comrades  as  the  jokes 
of  the  day.  And,  so  far,  no  officers  or  soldiers  had  done  or  said 
anything  in  the  way  of  retort.  No  man  in  New  Orleans  had  been 
wronged,  no  woman  had  been  treated  with  disrespect  by  the 
soldiers  of  the  United  States.  These  things  were  done  while  Gen- 
eral Butler  was  feeding  the  poor  of  the  city  by  thousands  ;  while 
he  was  working  night  and  day  to  start  and  restore  the  business 
of  the  city;  while  he  was  defending  the  people  against  the  frauds 
of  great  capitalists  ;  while  he  was  maintaining  such  order  in  New 
Orleans  as  it  had  never  known  before;  while  he  was  maturing 
measures  designed  solely  for  the  benefit  of  the  city  ;  while  he  was 
testifying  in  every  way,  by  word  and  deed,  his  heartfelt  desire  to 
exert  all  the  great  powers  intrusted  to  him  for  the  good  of  New 
Orleans  and  Louisiana. 

It  can  not  be  denied  that  both  officers  and  men  became,  at  length, 
very  sensitive  to  these  annoyances.  Complaints  to  the  general 
were  frequent.  Colonels  of  regiments  requested  to  be  informed 
what  orders  they  should  give  their  men  on  the  subject,  and  the 
younger  staff  officers  often  asked  the  general  to  save  them  from  in- 
dignities which  they  could  neither  resent  nor  endure.  Why,  in- 
deed, should  he  permit  his  brave  and  virtuous  New  England  sol- 
diers to  be  insulted  by  these  silly,  vulgar  creatures,  spoiled  by 
contact  with  slavery  ?  And  how  long  could  he  trust  the  forbear- 
ance of  the  troops  ?  These  questions  he  had  already  considered, 
but  the  extreme  difficulty  of  acting  in  such  an  affair  with  dignity 
and  effect,  had  given  him  pause.  But  when  the  report  of  the  spit- 
ting was  brought  to  him,  he  determined  to  put  a  stop  to  such  out- 
rages before  they  provoked  retaliation. 

It  has  been  said,  that  the  false  construction  put  upon  General 
Order  No.  28,  by  the  enemies  of  the  United  States,  was  due  to  the 
carelessness  with  which  it  was  composed.  Mr.  Seward,  in  his  con- 
versation on  the  subject  with  the  English  charge,  "  regretted  that, 
in  the  haste  of  composition,  a  phraseology  which  could  be  mistaken 
or  perverted  had  been  used."  The  secretary  of  state  was  never 
more  mistaken.  The  order  was  penned  with  the  utmost  care  and 
deliberation,  and  all  its  probable  consequences  discussed.  The 
problem  was,  how  to  put  an  end  to  the  insulting  behavior  of  the 


THE   "WOMAN    ORDER. 

women  without  being  obliged  to  resort  to  arrests.  So  far,  New 
Orleans  had  been  kept  down  by  the  mere  show  and  presence  of 
force ;  it  was  highly  desirable,  for  reasons  of  humanity  as  well  as 
policy,  that  this  should  continue  to  be  the  case.  If  the  order  had 
said:  Any  woman  who  insults  a  Union  soldier  shall  be  arrested> 
committed  to  the  calaboose  and  fined, — there  would  have  been 
women  who  would  have  courted  the  distinction  of  arrest,  to  the 
great  peril  of  the  public  tranquillity.  If  anything  at  all  could  have 
roused  the  populace  to  resist  the  troops,  surely  it  would  have  been 
the  arrest  of  a  well-dressed  women,  for  so  popular  an  act  as  insult- 
ing a  soldier  of  the  United  States. 

It  was  with  the  intent  to  accomplish  the  object  without  disturb- 
ance, that  General  Butler  worded  the  order  as  we  find  it.  The 
order  was  framed  upon  the  model  of  one  which  he  had  read  long 
ago  in  an  ancient  London  chronicle. 

"  Head-quarters,  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
"  New  Orleans,  May  15,  1862. 
"  General  Order  ISTo.  28  : 

"As  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  United  States  have  been  subject  to  re- 
peated insults  from  the  women  (calling  themselves  ladies)  of  New  Orleans, 
in  return  for  the  most  scrupulous  non-interference  and  courtesy  on  our 
part,  it  is  ordered  that  hereafter  when  any  female  shall,  by  word,  gesture, 
or  movement,  insult  or  show  contempt  for  any  officer  or  soldier  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  she  shall  be  regarded  and  held  liable  to  be  treated  as  a  woman 
of  the  town  plying  her  avocation." 

"  By  command  of  Major-General  Butler. 

"Geo.  0.  Strong,  A.  A.  G.,  Chief  of  Staff." 

That  is,  she  shall  be  held  liable,  according  to  the  law  of  New 
Orleans,  to  be  arrested,  detained  over  night  in  the  calaboose, 
brought  before  a  magistrate  in  the  morning,  and  fined  five  dollars. 

When  the  order  had  been  written,  and  was  about  to  be  con- 
signed to  irrevocable  print,  a  leading  member  of  the  staff  (Major 
Strong)  said  to  General  Butler  : 

"  After  all,  general,  is  it  not  possible  that  some  of  the  troops 
may  misunderstand  the  order?  It  would  be  a  great  scandal  if 
only  one  man  should  act  upon  it  in  the  wrong  way." 

"  Let  us,  then,"  replied  the  general,  "  have  one  case  of  aggres- 
sion on  our  side.     I  shall  know  how  to  deal  with  that  case,  so  that 


328  THE   WOMAN    ORDER. 

it  will  never  be  repeated.  So  far,  all  the  aggression  has  been 
against  us.  Here  we  are,  conquerors  in  a  conquered  city  ;  we  have 
respected  every  right,  tried  every  means  of  conciliation,  complied 
with  every  reasonable  desire  ;  and  yet  we  can  not  walk  the  streets 
without  being  outraged  and  spit  upon  by  green  girls.  I  do  not 
fear  the  troops;  but  if  aggression  must  be,  let  it  not  be  all 
against  ue.v 

General  Butler  was,  of  course,  perfectly  aware,  as  we  are,  that 
if  he  had  expressly  commanded  his  troops  to  outrage  and  ravish 
every  woman  who  insulted  them,  those  men  of  New  England  and 
the  West  would  not  have  thought  of  obeying  him.  If  one  miscre- 
ant among  them  had  attempted  it,  the  public  opinion  of  his  regi- 
ment would  have  crushed  him.  Every  one  who  knows  the  men 
of  that  army  feels  howr  impossible  it  was  that  any  of  them  should 
practically  misinterpret  an  order  of  which  the  proper  and  innocent 
meaning  was  so  palpable. 

The  order  was  published.  Its  success  was  immediate  and  per- 
fect. Not  that  the  women  did  not  still  continue,  with  the  ingenuity 
of  the  sex,  to  manifest  their  repugnance  to  the  troops.  They 
did  so.  The  piano  still  greeted  the  passing  officer  with  rebel  airs. 
The  fair  countenances  of  the  ladies  were  still  averted,  and  their 
skirts  gently  held  aside.  Still  the  balconies  presented  a  view  of 
the  "  back  hair"  of  beauty.  If  the  dear  creatures  did  not  leave  the 
car  when  an  officer  entered  it,  they  stirred  not  to  give  him  room  to 
sit  down,  and  would  not  see  his  polite  offer  to  hand  their  ticket  to 
the  driver.  (No  conductors  in  the  street  cars  of  New  Orleans.) 
It  was  a  fashion  to  affect  sickness  at  the  stomach  on  such  occasions ; 
wThich  led  the  Delta  to  remark,  that  the  ladies  should  remember 
that  but  for  the  presence  of  the  Union  forces  some  of  the  squeamish 
stomachs  would  have  nothing  in  them.  But  the  outrageous 
demonstrations  ceased.  No  more  insulting  words  were  uttered ; 
and  all  the  affectations  of  disgust  were  such  as  could  be  easily  and 
properly  borne  by  officers  and  men.  Gradually  even  these  were 
discontinued. 

I  need  not  add,  that  in  no  instance  was  the  order  misunderstood 
on  the  paYt  of  the  troops.  No  man  in  the  whole  world  misunder- 
stood it  who  was  not  glad  of  any  pretext  for  reviling  the  sacred 
cause  for  which  the  United  States  has  been  called  to  contend.  So 
far  from  causing  the  women  of  New  Orleans  to  be  wronged  or 


THE    WOMAN    OEDEE.  329 

molested,  it  was  that  which  saved  them  from  the  only  danger  of 
molestation  to  which  they  were  exposed.  It  threw  around  them 
the  protection  of  law,  not  tore  it  away ;  and  such  was  the  com- 
pleteness  of  its  success,  that  not  one  arrest  under  Order  No.  28 
has  ever  been  made. 

General  Butler  was  not  long  in  discovering  that  the  order  was 
to  be  made  the  occasion  of  a  prodigious  hue  and  cry  against  his  ad- 
ministration. The  puppet  mayor  of  New  Orleans  was  the  first  to 
lift  his  little  voice  against  it ;  which  led  to  important  consequences. 

It  had  already  become  apparent  to1  the  general  and  to  the  officers 
aiding  him,  that  two  powers  so  hostile  as  the  city  government  of 
New  Orleans  and  the  commander  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf 
could  not  co-operate — could  not  long  exist  together.  The  mayor 
and  common  council  had  violated  their  compact  with  the  general 
in  every  particular.  They  had  agreed  to  clean  the  streets,  and  had 
not  done  it.  They  had  engaged  to  enroll  two  hundred  and  fifty  of 
the  property-holders  of  the  town  to  assist  in  keeping  the  peace,  that 
General  Butler  might  safely  withdraw  his  troops.  The  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  proved  to  be  men  of  the  "  Thug"  species — the  hangers- 
on  of  the  City  Hall.  The  European  Brigade  was  to  be  retained  in 
service ;  the  mayor  disbanded  it.  Provisions  had  been  sent  out  of 
the  starving  city  to  the  hungry  camp  of  General  Lovell.  Confede- 
rate notes,  which  had  fallen  to  thirty  cents,  were  redeemed  by  the 
city  government  at  par,  thus  taxing  the  city  one  hundred  cents  to 
give  thirty  to  the  favorites  of  the  mayor  and  council ;  for  the  re- 
demption was  not  public  and  universal,  but  special  and  private. 
The  tone  and  style  of  the  city  government,  too,  were  a  perpetual 
reiteration  of  the  assertion,  so  dear  to  the  deluded  people  of  the 
eity,  that  New  Orleans  had  not  been  conquered — only  overcome  by 
"  brute  force."  Nothing  but  the  general's  extreme  desire  to  give 
the  arrangement  of  May  4th  so  fair  a  trial  that  the  whole  world 
would  hold  him  guiltless  in  dissolving  it,  prevented  his  seizing  upon 
the  government  of  the  city  on  the  ninth  of  May. 

The  following  letter  from  General  Butler  to  the  mayor  and  coun- 
cil, will  serve  to  show  the  state  of  feeling  between  them : 

"  Head-quaetees,  Depaetment  of  the  Gulf, 
New  Oeleans,  May  16,  1862. 
v  To  the  Mayor  and  Gentlemen  of  the  City  Council  of  New  Orleans : 
M  In  the  report  of  your  official  action,  published  in  the  Bee  of  the  16th 


330  THE    WOMAN    ORDEK. 

instant,  I  find  the  following  extracted  resolutions,  with  the  action  of  part 
of  your  body  thereon,  viz  : 

"  'The  following  preamble  and  resolution,  offered  by  Mr.  Stith,  were  read 
twice  and  adopted.  The  rules  being  suspended,  were,  on  motion,  sent  to 
the  assistant  board. 

"  '  Yeas — Messrs.  De  Labarre,  Forestall,  Huckins,  Eodin,  and  Stith — 5. 

"  '  Whereas,  it  has  come  to  the  knowledge  of  this  council  that,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  this  city,  a  large  fleet  of  the  navy  of  France  is  about 
to  visit  New  Orleans — of  which  fleet  the  Catinet,  now  in  our  port,  is  the 
pioneer — this  council,  bearing  in  grateful  remembrance  the  many  ties  of 
amity  and  good  feeling  which  uni£e  the  people  of  this  city  with  those  of 
France,  to  whose  paternal  protection  New  Orleans  owes  its  foundation  and 
early  prosperity,  and  to  whom  it  is  especially  grateful  for  the  jealousy  with 
which,  in  the  cession  of  the  state,  it  guaranteed  all  the  rights  of  property, 
person,  and  religious  freedom  of  its  citizens — 

"  lBe  it  resolved,  That  the  freedom  and  hospitalities  of  the  city  of  New 
Orleans  be  tendered  through  the  commander  of  the  Catinet  to  the  French 
naval  fleet  during  its  sojourn  in  our  port;  and  that  a  committee  of  five 
of  this  council  be  appointed,  with  the  mayor,  to  make  such  tender  and  such 
other  arrangements  as  may  be  necessary  to  give  effect  to  the  same. 

"  '  Messrs.  Stith  and  Forestall  were  appointed  on  the  committee  mention- 
ed in  the  foregoing  resolution.' 

"  This  action  is  an  insult,  as  well  to  the  United  States,  as  to  the  friendly 
and  powerful  nation  toward  whose  officers  it  is  directed.  The  offer  of  the 
freedom  of  a  captured  city  by  the  captives  would  merit  letters-patent  for 
its  novelty,  were  there  not  doubts  of  its  usefulness  as  an  invention.  The 
tender  of  its  hospitalities  by  a  government  to  which  police  duties  and  san- 
itary regulations  only  are  intrusted,  is  simply  an  invitation  to  the  calaboose 
or  the  hospital.  The  United  States  authorities  are  the  only  ones  here  capable 
of  dealing  with  amicable  or  unamicable  nations,  and  will  see  to  it  that  such 
acts  of  courtesy  or  assistance  are  extended  to  any  armed  vessel  of  the  em- 
peror of  France  as  shall  testify  the  national,  traditional,  and  hereditary 
feelings  of  grateful  remembrance  with  which  the  United  States  government 
and  people  appreciate  the  early  aid  of  France,  and  her  many  acts  of  friendly 
regard,  shown  upon  so  many  national  and  fitting  occasions. 

"The  action  of  the  city  council  in  this  behalf  must  be  revised. 
"  Kespectfully, 

"  B.  F.  Btjtlee,  Major-  General  Commanding." 

Such  heing  the  temper  of  the  parties,  an  explosion  was  to  he  ex- 
pected upon  the  first  occasion.  Order  No.  28  was  the  spark 
which  hlew  up  the  city  government. 

On  the  day  on  which  the  order  appeared  in  the  newspapers,  the 


E    WOMAN    ORDEE.  331 

mayor  sent  to  General  Butler  the  following  letter,  which  was  writ- 
ten for  him  by  his  secretary,  Mr.  Duncan,  formerly  of  the  Delta : 

"  State  of  Louisiana,  Mayoralty  of  New  Orleans, 

"Way  16,  1862. 
"Major-General  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Commanding  United  States  Forces. 
"  Sir  : — Your  General  Order,  No.  28,  of  date  15th  inst.,  which  reads  as  fol 
lows,  is  of  a  character  so  extraordinary  and  astonishing  that  I  can  not,  hold- 
ing the  office  of  chief  magistrate  of  this  city,  chargeable  with  its  peace  and 
dignity,  suffer  it  to  be  promulgated  in  our  presence  without  protesting 
against  the  threat  it  contains,  which  has  already  aroused  the  passions  of 
our  people,  and  must  exasperate  them  to  a  degree  beyond  control.  Your 
officers  and  soldiers  are  permitted,  by  the  terms  of  this  order,  to  place  any 
construction  they  may  please  upon  the  conduct  of  our  wives  and  daughters, 
and,  upon  such  construction,  to  offer  them  atrocious  insults.  The  peace 
of  the  city  and  the  safety  of  your  officers  and  soldiers  from  harm  or  insult 
have,  I  affirm,  been  successfully  secured  to  an  extent  enabling  them  to 
move  through  our  streets  almost  unnoticed,  according  to  the  understanding 
and  agreement  entered  into  between  yourself  and  the  city  authorities.  I 
did  not,  however,  anticipate  a  war  upon  women  and  children,  who,  so  far 
as  I  am  aware,  have  only  manifested  their  displeasure  at  the  occupation  of 
their  city  by  those  whom  they  believe  to  be  their  enemies,  and  I  will  never 
undertake  to  be  responsible  for  the  peace  of  New  Orleans  while  such  an 
edict,  which  infuriates  our  citizens,  remains  in  force.  To  give  a  license  to 
the  officers  and  soldiers  of  your  command  to  commit  outrages,  such  as  are 
indicated  in  your  qrder,  upon  defenseless  women  is.  in  my  judgment,  a  re- 
proach to  the  civilization,  not  to  say  to  the  Christianity,  of  the  age,  in  whose 
name  I  make  this  protest.     I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"John  T.  Monroe,  Mayor." 

To  this  General  Butler  replied  with  promptness  and  brevity,  and 
sent  his  reply  by  the  hands  of  the  provost-marshal : 

"  Head-quarters,  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
"New  Orleans,  May  16,  1862. 
"  John  T.  Monroe,  late  mayor  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  is  relieved 
from  all  responsibility  for  the  peace  of  the  city,  and  is  suspended  from  the 
exercise  of  any  official  functions,  and  committed  to  Fort  Jackson  until  far- 
ther orders.  B.  F.  Butler,  Major- General  Commanding.'''' 

The  mayor,  however,  was  indulged  with  an  interview  with  the 
commanding  general.  He  remonstrated  against  the  order  for  his 
imprisonment.  The  general  told  him,  in  reply,  that  if  he  could  no 
longer  control  the  "  aroused  passions  of  the  people  of  New  Or- 
leans," it  was  highly  necessary  that  he  should  not  only  be  relieved 


332  THE    WOMAN    OEDEE. 

from  any  further  responsibility  for  the  tranquillity  of  the  city,  but 
be  sent  himself  to  a  place  of  safety :  which  Fort  Jackson  was. 
The  letter,  added  the  general,  was  an  insult  which  no  officer,  repre- 
senting the  majesty  of  the  United  States  in  a  captured  city,  ought 
to  submit  to.  The  mayor,  whose  courage  always  oozed  away  in 
the  presence  of  General  Butler,  declared  that  he  had  had  no  in- 
tention to  insult  the  general :  he  had  only  intended  to  vindicate  the 
honor  of  the  virtuous  ladies  of  New  Orleans. 

"  No  vindication  is  necessary,"  said  General  Butler,  "  because  the 
order  does  not  contemplate  or  allude  to  virtuous  women."  None 
such,  he  believed,  could  have  meant  to  insult  his  officers  or  men  by 
word,  look,  or  gesture,  and  the  order  was  aimed  only  at  those  who 
had. 

Finding  the  mayor  pliant  and  reasonable,  as  he  always  was  in  the 
absence  of  his  supporters,  General  Butler  expounded  the  order  to 
him  at  great  length,  and  with  perfect  courtesy.  The  mayor  then 
declared  that  he  was  perfectly  satisfied,  and  asked  to  be  allowed  to 
withdraw  his  offensive  letter.  General  Butler,  knowing  well  the 
necessity,  in  all  dealings  with  puppets,  of  having  something  to  show 
in  writing,  wrote  the  following  words  at  the  end  of  the  mayor's 
letter : 

"  Geneeal  Butlee  : — This  communication  having  been  sent  under  a  mis- 
take of  fact,  and  being  improper  in  language,  I  desire  to  apologize  for  the 
same,  and  to  withdraw  it." 

This  the  mayor  signed,  and  the  general  relieved  him  from  arrest. 
The  mayor  then  departed,  and  the  general  hoped  he  had  done  with 
Order  No.  28. 

It  was  very  far,  however,  from  the  intention  of  the  gentlemen 
who  had  the  mayor  of  New  Orleans  in  charge,  to  forego  their  op- 
portunity of  firing  the  southern  heart.  In  the  evening  of  the  same 
16th  of  May,  General  Butler  received  the  following  note: 

"Mayoealty  of  New  Oeleans, 
"City  Hall,  May  16,  1862. 
"  Major-General  Butlee  : 

"  Sie  : — Having  misunderstood  you  yesterday  in  relation  to  your  General 
Order  No.  28,  I  wish  to  withdraw  the  indorsement  I  made  on  the  letter 
addressed  to  you  yesterday.  Please  deliver  the  letter  to  my  secretary,  Mr. 
Duncan,  who  will  hand  you  this  note.     Your  obedient  servant, 

"John  T.  Moxeoe." 
General  Butler  immediately  replied  in  the  following  terms : 


THE    WOaiAlT    OEDEE.  333 

"Head-quarters,  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
"  New  Orleans,  May  16,  18G2. 
"  Sir  : — There  can  be,  there  has  been,  no  room  for  the  misunderstand- 
ing of  General  Order  No.  28. 

"No  lady  will  take  any  notice  of  a  strange  gentleman,  and  a  fortiori  of 
a  stranger,  in  such  form  as  to  attract  attention.     Common  women  do. 

"  Therefore,  whatever  woman,  lady  or  mistress,  gentle  or  simple,  who, 
by  gesture,  look  or  word,  insults,  shows  contempt  for,  thus  attracting  to 
herself  the  notice  of  my  officers  or  soldiers,  will  be  deemed  to  act  as  be- 
comes her  vocation  of  common  woman,  and  will  be  liable  to  be  treated  ac- 
cordingly.    This  was  most  fully  explained  to  you  at  my  office. 

"I  shall  not,  as  I  have  not,  abated  a  single  word  of  that  order;  it  was 
well  considered.  If  obeyed,  it  will  protect  the  true  and  modest  woman  from 
all  possible  insult.     The  others  will  take  care  of  themselves. 

u  You  can  publish  your  letter,  if  you  publish  this  note,  and  your  apology. 
"Respectfully,  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 

"  Major-  General  Commanding. 
"John  T.  Monroe,  Mayor  of  New  Orleans." 

To  this  the  mayor  replied  by  sending  to  the  general  a  copy  of 
his  first  letter.  General  Butler  summoned  him  again  to  head- 
quarters; he  came  accompanied  by  his  secretary,  Duncan.  In  the 
presence  of  the  general  his  courage  failed  him  again,  and  he  de- 
clared that  he  did  not  wish  to  send  the  offensive  letter  if  he  could 
publish  what  the  general  had  said  to  him  yesterday,  that  Order  No. 
28  did  not  refer  to  all  the  ladies  of  New  Orleans.  With  even  an 
excess  of  patience,  the  general  replied,  that  to  prevent  all  possi- 
bility of  misunderstanding  he  would  put  in  writing  at  the  bottom 
of  a  copy  of  the  order  a  statement  in  accordance  with  the  mayor's 
desires,  which  he  would  be  at  liberty  to  publish.     So  he  wrote  : 

"  You  may  say  that  this  order  refers  to  those  women  who  have  shown 
contempt  for  and  insulted  my  soldiers,  by  words,  gestures,  and  movements, 
in  their  presence.  B.  F.  Butler." 

Duncan  asked  the  insertion  of  the  word  "  only"  after  "  women." 
The  general  assented  to  this  also  ;  when  the  mayor  and  his  secre- 
tary retired,  taking  the  documents  with  them.  Again  General 
Butler  indulged  the  hope  that  the  affair  was  satisfactorily  adjusted. 

Far  from  it.  The  next  morning,  which  was  Sunday,  the  mayor  and 
a  large  party  of  his  friends  presented  themselves  at  the  private  parlor 
of  the  general.  The  mayor  said  that  he  had  come  for  the  purpose  of 
withdrawing  his  apology.      General   Butler  replied  that  Sunday 


334  THE    WOMAN    ORDER. 

was  not  a  business  day  with  him,  but  if  the  Mayor  desired  to  with- 
draw his  apology,  and  would  place  himself,  on  Monday  morning, 
in  the  chair  in  which  he  had  sat  when  he  signed  it,  he  should  have 
a  full  opportunity  to  do  so.  The  general  added,  that  he  would  be 
glad  to  see  him  the  next  morning,  and  as  many  friends  as  he  chose 
to  bring  with  him. 

Meanwhile,  information  had  been  brought  to  head-quarters  of  a 
conspiracy  among  the  paroled  rebel  prisoners  in  New  Orleans,  to 
procure  arms  and  force  their  way  beyond  the  Union  lines  and 
join  General  Lovell.  Six  of  them  had  been  arrested.  The  con- 
spirators, it  appeared,  had  called  themselves  the  Monroe  Guard, 
after  the  mayor,  from  whom  they  expected  substantial  aid — had 
probably  received  substantial  aid  already.  The  general  was  re- 
solved to  make  short  work  with  the  mayor  at  their  next  interview. 

On  Monday  morning  the  mayor  presented  himself  at  head-quar- 
ters, accompanied  by  his  chief  of  police,  a  lieutenant  of  police,  his 
private  secretary,  one  of  the  city  judges,  and  several  others  of  his 
special  backers ;  seven  or  eight  persons  in  all.  General  Butler  did 
not  wait  for  the  attack  of  this  imposing  force,  but  opened  upon  them 
as  soon  as  they  were  in  position.  He  made  a  clear  and  forcible 
statement  of  the  many  ways  in  which  the  city  government  had 
failed  to  observe  the  compact  of  May  4th.  He  told  them  that  while 
he  had  been  employing  all  the  resources  of  his  mind  and  of  his  posi- 
tion to  keep  the  poor  of  the  city  from  starving,  the  whole  power 
and  means  of  the  city  authorities  had  been  expended  in  supporting 
the  Confederate  cause — by  sending  provisions  to  Lovell's  camp,  by 
contributing  money  for  the  maintenance  of  Confederate  agents  in 
the  city,  and  by  placing  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  purifica- 
tion of  the  streets.  He  announced  the  discovery  of  the  conspiracy 
among  the  paroled  prisoners,  the  sentence  of  six  of  them  to  death ; 
and  discoursed  upon  the  significance  of  the  naming  of  the  corps 
after  the  mayor.  All  this  conflict  of  authority  and  of  moral  influ- 
ence must  cease,  and  cease  at  once.  He  had  resolved  to  have  no 
more  of  "  this  weathercock  business." 

After  a  long  interview,  he  brought  the  matter  to  a  very  simple 
and  direct  issue.  He  saw  before  him  the  men  who  had  inspired 
and  upheld  the  mayor  in  his  unnatural  and  unwilling  contumacy. 
To  each  of  them  he  addressed  a  question,  the  answer  to  which 
would  fix  his  political  position  and  indicate  his  future  course : 


THE    WOMAi*    OKDEK.  tf35 

"Judge  Kennedy,  do  yon  sanction  the  mayor's  letter  in  its  sub- 
stance and  effect  ?" 

Answer :  "  I  sustain  no  insulting  expression  in  this  letter.  The 
construction  which  the  letter  puts  upon  the  order  is  the  construc- 
tion put  upon  it  in  this  city  generally.  If  I  had  been  in  the  mayor's 
place,  I  should  have  claimed  a  modification,  or  an  announcement  of 
its  intended  construction." 

General  Butler  :  "  Do  you  not  believe  the  letter  insulting  ?  Do 
you  aid  and  abet  the  mayor  ?  Do  you  sustain  the  mayor  in  reit- 
erating the  letter  ?" 

Kennedy :  "  I  can  not  answer.  I  will  answer  neither  yes  nor  no, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  it  will  not  cover  the  position  I  take.  I 
would  not,  in  any  communication  with  General  Butler,  use  insult- 
ing language  myself." 

The  question  was  then  proposed  to  the  other  gentlemen  in  turn. 

Chief  of  Police :  "  I  do  sustain  the  mayor." 

Lieutenant  of  Police  :  u  I  have  not  given  the  letter  a  thought.  I 
have  never  read  the  letter  before." 

Mr.  Harris  :  The  same  answer. 

Mr.  Whann :  "I  do  not  sustain  or  repudiate  the  letter,  as  I  know 
nothing  about  it." 

Mr.  Pettigrew :   "  I  sustain  the  mayor." 

Mr.  Duncan  confessed  to  having  "  assisted  in  the  composition  of 
the  letter." 

General  Butler  then  ordered  the  committal  to  Fort  Jackson  of  the 
late  mayor,  the  chief  of  police,  Judge  Kennedy  and  Mr.  Duncan. 
The  others  were  dismissed.  The  mayor,  finally  wished  to  .know  if 
his  apology  would  be  considered  withdrawn.  General  Butler  as- 
sured him  that  when  the  letter  and  the  apology  were  published, 
the  withdrawal  of  the  apology  should  be  distinctly  stated. 

The  mayor  was  afterward  removed  to  Fort  Pickens.  The  offer  was 
always  open  to  him  to  take  the  oath  and  return  home.  Some  of  his 
friends,  it  is  said,  prevailed  upon  him,  at  length,  to  return  home  on 
that  hard,  condition ;  and  General  Butler  consenting,  his  wife  went 
to  Fort  Pickens  after  him.  The  officer  who  accompanied  her 
chanced  to  hand  the  mayor  a  newspaper  which  contained  a  positive 
announcement  that  France  had  recognized  the  Confederacy.  The 
worthy  mayor  instantly  changed  his  mind,  refused  to  take  the  oath, 
and  permitted  a  faithful  spouse  to  depart  without  him. 


336  THE   WOMAN    OKDER. 

The  mayor  being  deposed,  the  executive  part  of  the  city  govern 
ment  was  at  once  suspended,  and  the  business  of  governing  New 
Orleans  devolved  upon  the  military  commandant,  General  G.  F. 
Shepley,  of  Maine.  The  woman  order,  however,  merely  hastened 
an  event  which  the  expiration  of  the  mayor's  term  of  office  would 
have  effected  in  a  few  days ;  for  General  Butler  had  already  deter- 
mined that  no  man  should  again  be  elected  to  office  in  New  Orleanx 
who  had  not  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  his  country's  govern 
ment. 

The  day  after  the  scene  just  related,  General  Shepley  issued  the 

following 

"NOTICE. 

"  Head-qttaetees,  Militaey  Commandant  of  New  Oeleans, 
"  Custom-House,  May  20,  1862. 

"  In  the  absence  of  the  late  mayor  of  New  Orleans,  by  order  of  Major- 
General  B.  F.  Butler,  commanding  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  the  mill 
tary  commandant  of  New  Orleans  will,  for  the  present,  and  until  such  time 
as  the  citizens  of  New  Orleans  shall  elect  a  loyal  citizen  of  New  Orleans 
and  of  the  United  States  as  mayor  of  the  city,  discharge  the  functions 
which  have  hitherto  appertained  to  that  office. 

M  He  assures  the  peaceable  citizens  of  New  Orleans,  that  he  will  afford 
the  most  ample  protection  to  their  persons  and  property,  and  their  honor. 

"  No  officer  or  soldier  of  the  United  States  army  will  be  permitted  to 
insult  or  annoy  any  peaceable  citizen,  or  in  any  way  to  invade  his  personal 
rights,  or  rights  of  property. 

"No  citizen  will  be  permitted  to  insult  or  interfere  with  any  officer  or 
soldier  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty. 

"  No  person  hereafter  will  denounce  or  threaten  with  personal  violence 
any  citizen  of  the  United  States  for  the  expression  of  Union  and  loyal  senti- 
ments.    The  punishment  for  these  offenses  will  be  speedy  and  effectual. 

"  The  functions  of  the  chief  of  police  wil.  be  exercised  by  Captain  Jonas  H. 
French,  provost-marshal,  to  whom  all  police-officers  will  report  immediate- 
ly. He  is  intrusted  with  the  duty  of  organizing  the  police  force  of  the  city, 
and  'will  continue  in  office  those  found  to  be  trustworthy,  honest,  and  loyal. 

"  The  several  recorders  are  hereby  suspended  from  the  discharge  of  the 
functions  of  their  offices,  and  Major  Joseph  M.  Bell,  provost  judge,  will 
hear  and  determine  all  complaints  for  the  violation  of  the  peace  and  good 
order  of  the  city,  of  its  ordinances  or  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

"  The  laws  and  general  ordinances  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  excepting 
such  as  may  be  inconsistent  with  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
States,  or  with  any  general  order  issued  by  the  commanding  general  of  this 
department,  or  with  this  order,  are  hereby  continued  in  force. 


THE   WOMAN    OBDEB.  337 

u  All  contracts  and  engagements  heretofore  legally  entered  in  by  the  city 
of  New  Orleans,  or  under  the  authority  thereof,  subject  to  the  limitations 
of  the  foregoing  paragraph,  shall  be  held  inviolate,  and  faithfully  carried  out. 

"  It  is  expected,  and  will  be  required,  that  all  contractors  shall  continue 
to  perform  the  duties  and  obligations  resting  upon  them  by  contracts  now 
in  force,  and  all  such  parties  will  be  held  to  rigid  accountability. 

"  The  military  commandant  desires  the  co-operation  of  all  good  citizens 
to  enable  him  to  carry  out  the  duties  assumed. 

"  He  invites,  and  will  speedily  ask,  the  aid  of  a  number  of  citizens  of  re- 
spectability and  character,  to  aid  in  the  department  of  the  city  finances,  as 
well  as  in  what  pertains  to  the  health,  lighting,  paving,  cleansing,  drainage, 
wharves,  levees,  and  generally,  all  municipal  affairs  not  excepted  from  civil 
control  by  the  proclamation  of  the  commanding  general,  or  by  this  order ; 
and  in  the  mean  time,  all  officers  now  charged  with  such  functions,  are  re- 
tained in  their  respective  employments  until  farther  orders. 

"  In  all  questions  of  the  construction  and  interpretation  of  the  laws  per- 
taining to  the  city  and  its  government,  and  of  the  ordinances  thereof,  the 
military  commandant  will  seek  the  guidance  of  a  professional  man  of  known 
probity  and  intelligence. 

"The  military  commandant  will  be  most  happy  to  receive  from  any  citi- 
zen of  New  Orleans  written  or  oral  suggestions,  touching  the  welfare  and 
good  government  thereof. 

"  In  conclusion,  the  military  commandant  assures  the  entire  population 
of  the  city,  that  the  restoration  of  the  authority  of  the  United  States  is  the 
re-establishment  of  peace,  order  and  morality ;  safety  to  life,  liberty  and 
property  under  the  law,  and  a  guarantee  of  the  future  prosperity  and  glory 
of  the  crescent  city,  under  the  protection  of  the  American  government  and 
constitution. 

"  To  promote  these  ends,  his  own  most  strenuous  efforts  will  be  unceas- 
ingly devoted,  and  to  their  consummation,  he  earnestly  invites  the  co-opera- 
tion of  his  fellow-citizens  of  New  Orleans. 

"  G.  F.  Sheplet,  Military  Commandant  of  Xeio  Orleans. 

"Edwin  Ilsley,  A.  A.  A.  G." 

General  Shepley  proceeded  with  vigor  to  organize  the  govern- 
ment. Colonel  French  advertised  for  five  hundred  policemen. 
Judicious  appointments  were  made  in  every  department,  and  the 
municipal  revolution  was  accomplished  without  disturbance.  Among 
General  Shepley' s  first  orders  we  notice  the  following : 

"general  orders. 
"Office  Military  Commandant  of  New  Orleans, 
"  City  Hall,  May  28,  1862. 
"  Hereafter  in  the  churches  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  prayers  will  not 


338  THE    WOMAN    OBDEK. 

be  offered  up  for  the  destruction  of  the  Union  or  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  for  the  success  of  rebel  armies,  for  the  Confederate  States, 
so  called,  or  any  officers  of  the  same,  civil  or  military,  in  their  official 
capacity. 

"While  protection  will  be  afforded  to  all  churches,  religious  houses, 
and  establishments,  and  religious  '  services  are  to  be  held  as  in  times  of 
profound  peace,'  this  protection  will  not  be  allowed  to  be  perverted  to 
the  upholding  of  treason  or  advocacy  of  it  in  any  form. 

"  Where  thus  perverted,  it  will  be  withdrawn. 

"  G.  F.  Shepley,  Military  Commandant." 

This  order  was  complied  with  only  in  the  letter.  Thenceforward, 
in  reaching  that  part  of  the  service  where  prayers  were  accustomed 
to  be  offered  for  Jefferson  Davis,  the  minister  would  say :  "  Let  us 
now  spend  a  few  moments  in  silent  prayer." 

After  suppressing  the  city  government,  it  seemed  to  General 
Butler  unjust  and  unwise  to  permit  that  potent  instigator  and  di- 
rector of  treason,  Mr.  Pierre  Soule,  to  remain  in  the  city.  It  was 
he  who  had  assisted  in  the  composition  of  the  mayor's  insolent  let- 
ter to  Captain  Farragut.  It  was  he  who  had  countenanced,  per- 
haps caused,  the  burning  of  the  cotton.  It  was  he  who  was  the 
moral  support  of  the  contumacy  of  secession  in  New  Orleans. 
Upon  him  secession  chiefly  relied  to  give  it  voice  and  effect. 
General  Butler  was  clearly  of  opinion  that  to  render  New  Orleans 
a  dead  thing  to  secession,  it  was  indispensable  to  send  away  a  man 
so  powerful  to  nourish  hostility  to  the  Union.  Captain  Conant 
accomplished  the  arrest  with  his  usual  tact,  and  Mr.  Soule,  after 
ample  time  to  arrange  his  private  business,  was  consigned  to 
Fort  Warren,  in  Boston  harbor.  General  Butler,  some  time  after- 
ward, requested  the  government  to  release  the  prisoner  on  his 
parole  not  to  return  to  New  Orleans,  nor  commit  or  advise  any 
act  hostile  to  the  United  States,  which  was  done. 

Few  men  have  had  a  more  varied  career  than  Pierre  Soule.  A 
native  of  France — a  Paris  lawyer — a  Paris  journalist — a  fugitive  to 
the  West  Indies — an  emigrant  to  New  Orleans — a  lawyer  there  of 
brilliant  position — a  senator  of  the  United  States — a  minister  to 
Madrid,  where  he  wounded  the  French  embassador  in  a  duel — a 
member  of  the  Ostend  Cuba-coveting  conference — a  lawyer  again  in 
New  Orleans — a  Unionist — a  rebel — a  prisoner  of  state. 

Before  taking  leave  of  the  woman  order  and  its  consequences,  it 


THE    WOMAN    ORDEB.  339 

is  proper  to  notice  the  use  made  of  it  by  the  enemies  of  the  United 
States.  The  screech  which  arose  from  all  parts  of  Secessia  fur- 
nishes another  proof  that  this  rebellion,  which  was  begun  in  false- 
hood, has  been  sustained  by  falsehood  alone.  I  will  give  here  a 
few  of  the  rebel  comments. 

The  following  "  appeal"  appeared  in  most  of  the  southern  pa- 
pers : 

"  An  Appeal  to  eveet  Southern  Soldiee. — We  turn  to  you  in  mute 
agony !  Behold  our  wrongs !  Fathers  !  husbands !  brothers !  sons !  we 
know  these  bitter,  burning  wrongs  will  be  fully  avenged — never  did  south- 
ern women  appeal  in  vain  for  protection  from  insult !  But,  for  the  sake  of 
your  sisters  throughout  the  south,  with  tears  we  implore  you  not  to  sur- 
render your  cities,  '  in  consideration  of  the  defenseless  women  and  chil- 
dren!' Do  not  leave  your  women  to  the  mercy  of  this  merciless  foe! 
Would  it  not  have  been  better  for  New  Orleans  to  have  been  laid  in  ruins, 
and  we  buried  up  beneath  the  mass,  than  that  we  should  be  subjected  to 
these  untold  sufferings  ?  Is  life  so  precious  a  boon  that,  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  it,  no  sacrifice  is  too  great  ?  Ah,  no !  ah,  no !  Kather  let  us  die 
with  you,  oh,  our  fathers !  Rather,  like  Virginius,  plunge  your  own  swords 
into  our  breasts,  saying,  '  This  is  all  we  can  give  our  daughters.' 

11  The  Daughters  of  New  Orleans. 

"New  Orleans,  May  24,  1862." 

The  governor  of  Louisiana  discoursed  upon  the  inviting  topic  in 
an  address  to  the  people. 

"  History  records  instances  of  cities  sacked,  and  inhuman  atrocities  com- 
mitted upon  the  women  of  a  conquered  town,  but  in  no  instance,  in  modern 
times,  at  least,  without  the  brutal  ravishers  suffering  condign  punishment 
from  the  hands  of  their  own  commanders.  It  was  reserved  for  a  federal 
general  to  invite  his  soldiers  to  the  perpetration  of  outrages,  at  the  mention 
of  which  the  blood  recoils  in  horror — to  quicken  the  impulse  of  their  sen- 
sual instincts  by  the  suggestion  of  transparent  excuses  for  their  gratifica- 
tion, and  to  add  to  an  infamy  already  well  merited  those  crowning  titles  of 
a  panderer  to  lust  and  a  desecrator  of  virtue. 

"  Organize,  then,  quickly  and  efficiently.  If  your  enemy  attempt  to  pro- 
ceed into  the  interior,  let  his  pathway  be  marked  by  his  blood.  It  is  your 
homes  that  you  have  to  defend.  It  is  the  jewel  of  your  hearths,  the  chas- 
tity of  your  women,  you  have  to  guard.  Let  that  thought  animate  your 
breasts,  nerve  your  arms,  quicken  your  energies,  and  inspire  your  resolu- 
tion. Strike  home  to  the  heart  of  your  foe  the  blow  that  rids  your  country 
of  his  presence.  If  needs  be,  let  his  blood  moisten  your  own  grav*.  I* 
15 


340  THE    WOMAN    OEDEE. 

will  rise  up  before  your  children  as  a  perpetual  memento  of  a  race  whom  it 
will  teach  to  hate  now  and  evermore." 

A  fair  and  indignant  Georgian  wrote  to  one  of  the  newspapers 
of  Savannah : 

"  Editor  of  the  Republican — Seeing  your  spirited  notice  in  this  morning's 
paper,  of  the  offer  of  a  noble  Mississippian  to  give  a  reward  of  $10,000  for 
the  infamous  Butler's  head,  can  you  not  suggest,  through  your  valuable 
journal,  the  propriety  of  every  woman  in  our  Confederacy  contributing  her 
mite  to  triple  the  sum,  for  a  consummation  dear  to  the  insulted  honor  of 
our  countrywomen,  one  and  all  ? 

"  Eespectfully,  A  Savannah  Woman. 

"  Savannah,  June  10,  1862." 

Mr.  Paul  H.  Hayne,  a  very  worthy  young  gentleman  and  poet 
of  Charleston,  was  "  carried  away"  by  the  tide  of  feeling,  and 
achieved  a  poem  that  is  only  ludicrous  when  we  consider  the  real 
character  of  the  event  which  called  it  forth. 

BUTLER'S  PROCLAMATION". 

BY   PAXIL  H.   HATNE. 

"It  is  ordered  that  hereafter,  when  any  female  shall,  by  word,  gesture, 
or  movement,  insult  or  show  contempt  for  any  officer  or  soldier  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  she  shall  be  regarded  and  held  liable  to  be  treated  as  a  woman  of 
the  town  plying  her  avocation." — Butler's  Order  at  New  Orleans" 

"  At  !  drop  the  treacherous  mask !  throw  by 
The  cloak  which  veiled  thine  instincts  fell ; 

Stand  forth,  thou  base,  incarnate  Lie, 
Stamped  with  the  signet  brand  of  hell ; 

At  last  we  view  thee  as  thou  art, 

A  trickster  with  a  demon's  heart. 


"  O  soldiers,  husbands,  brothers,  sires ! 

Think  that  each  stalwart  blow  ye  give 
Shall  quench  the  rage  of  lustful  fires, 

And  bid  your  glorious  women  live 
Pure  from  a  wrong  whose  tainted  breath 
Were  fouler  than  the  foulest  death. 


THE    WOMAN    ORDER.  341 

"  Yes !  but  there's  one  icho  shall  not  die 

In  oattle  harness  /     One  for  whom 
Lurks  in  the  darkness  silently 

Another  and  a  sterner  doom ! 
A  warrior's  end  should  crown  the  brave — 
For  him,  swift  cord !  and  felon  grave ! 

"  As  loathsome,  charnel  vapors  melt, 

Swept  by  invisible  winds  to  naught, 
So,  may  this  fiend  of  lust  and  guilt 

Die  like  nightmare's  hideous  thought ! 
Naught  left  to  mark  the  mother's  name, 
Save — immortality  of  shame!" 

It  pleased  the  English  friends  of  the  Confederacy,  to  place  upon 
Order  No.  28,  the  same  preposterous  construction.  For  them, 
however,  there  was  this  excuse :  they  had  read  "  Napier's  History 
of  the  Peninsular  War."  They  knew  how  savages  in  red  coats  had 
been  wont  to  conduct  themselves  in  captured  cities,  and  naturally 
concluded  that  patriots  in  blue  would  follow  their  example.  But  it 
is  difficult  to  believe  in  the  sincerity  of  noble  lords  and  members 
of  the  house  of  commons,  when  they  adopted  and  echoed  back  the 
rebel  screech.  We  hesitate  to  think  that  men  intrusted  with  the 
government  of  a  great  country  can  be  so  easily  taken  in. 

Lord  Palmerston. — u  I  am  quite  prepared  to  say,  that  I  think  no  man  could 
have  read  the  proclamation  to  which  our  attention  has  been  drawn,  with- 
out a  feeling  of  the  deepest  indignation — (cheers  from  both  sides  of  the 
house) — a  proclamation  to  which  I  do  not  scruple  to  attach  the  epithet  in- 
famous. (Renewed  cheering.)  Sir,  an  Englishman  must  blush  to  think 
that  such  an  act  has  been  committed  by  one  belonging  to  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race.  (Cheers.)  If  it  had  come  from  some  barbarous  race  that  was  not 
within  the  pale  of  civilization,  one  might  have  regretted  it,  but  might  not 
have  been  surprised  ;  but  that  such  an  order  should  have  been  promulgated 
by  a  soldier — (cheers) — by  one  who  had  raised  himself  to  the  rank  of  gen- 
eral, is  a  subject  undoubtedly  of  not  less  astonishment  than  pain.  (Cheers.) 
Sir,  I  can  not  bring  myself  to  believe  but  that  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  whenever  they  had  notice  of  this  order,  must,  of  their  own  accord, 
have  stamped  it  with  their  censure  and  condemnation." 

Punch,  too,  whose  laugh  was  always  humane  and  just,  till  the 


342  THE   WOMAN    OEDEE. 

slaveholders  of  the  southern  states  rose  in  arms  against  all  that 
Englishmen  used  to  hold  dear,  had  his  little  song  on  the  subject : 

"  Haynau's  lash  tore  woman's  back, 
When  she  riz  his  dander. 
Butler,  by  his  edict  black, 

Stumps  that  famed  commander. 
Wreaking  upon  maid  and  dame 

Savagery  subtler  : 
None  but  Nena  Sahib  name 
Along  with  General  Butler. 
Yankee  doodle,  doodle  doo, 

Yankee  doodle  dandy ; 
Butler  is  a  rare  Yahoo, 
As  brave  as  Sepoy  Pandy." 

These  perverse  and  ridiculous  passages  may  serve  as  encourage- 
ment to  public  men  who  are  called  to  act  in  novel  and  difficult 
circumstances.  They  show  the  emptiness  and  harmlessness  of 
partisan  clamor  when  it  is  aimed  against  a  measure  which  is  wise, 
humane  and  right.  General  Butler  could  not  have  been  quite  in- 
different to  vituperation  like  this — no  man  could  have  been.  He 
took  no  public  notice  of  it  at  the  time,  having  more  important 
affairs  upon  his  hands ;  but,  among  his  private  letters,  there  is  one 
which  briefly  vindicates  the  order. 

"  I  am  as  jealous,"  he  wrote,  "  of  the  good  opinion  of  my  friends 
as  I  am  careless  of  the  slanders  of  my  enemies,  and  your  kind  ex- 
pressions with  regard  to  Order  No.  28  lead  me  to  say  a  word  to 
you  on  the  subject. 

"  That  it  could  ever  have  been  so  misconceived  as  it  has  been  by 
some  portions  of  the  northern  press,  is  wonderful,  and  would  lead 
me  to  exclaim,  with  the  Jew,  c  Oh !  Father  Abraham,  what  these 
Christians  are,  whose  own  hard  dealings  teach  them  suspect  the 
thoughts  of  others  V 

"  What  was  the  state  of  things  to  which  the  woman  order  ap- 
plied ? 

"  We  were  two  thousand  five  hundred  men,  in  a  city  seven 
miles  long  by  two  to  four  wide,  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  in- 
habitants, all  hostile,  bitter,  defiant,  explosive ;  standing  literally 
oa  a  magazine,  a  spark  only  needed  for  destruction.     The  devil 


THE    WOMAN    OEDER.  343 

had  entered  the  hearts  of  the  women  of  this  town  (you  know 
seven  of  them  chose  Mary  Magdalene  for  a  residence)  to  stir  up 
strife  in  every  way  possible.  Every  opprobrious  epithet,  every 
insulting  gesture,  was  made  by  these  be-jeweled,  crinolined  and 
laced  creatures,  calling  themselves  ladies,  toward  my  soldiers  and 
officers,  from  the  windows  of  houses  and  in  the  streets.  How  long 
do  you  suppose  our  flesh  and  blood  could  have  stood  this  without 
retort  ?  That  would  have  led  to  disturbances  and  riot,  from  which 
we  must  have  cleared  the  streets  with  artillery — and  then  a  howl 
that  we  had  murdered  these  fine  women.  I  had  arrested  the  men 
who  had  hurrahed  for  Beauregard.  Could  I  arrest  the  women  ? 
No.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  No  order  could  be  made  save  one 
which  would  execute  itself.  With  anxious  care,  I  thought  I  had 
hit  upon  this  :  '  Women  who  insult  my  soldiers  are  to  be  regarded 
and  treated  as  common  women,  plying  their  vocation.' 

"  Pray,  how  do  you  treat  a  common  woman  plying  her  vocation 
in  the  streets?  You  pass  her  by  unheeded.  She  can  not  insult 
you.  As  a  gentleman,  you  can  and  will  take  no  notice  of  her.  If 
she  speaks,  her  words  are  not  opprobrious.  It  is  only  when  she 
becomes  a  continuous  and  positive  nuisance,  that  you  call  a  watch- 
man and  give  her  in  charge  to  him. 

"  But  some  of  the  northern  editors  seem  to  think  that  whenever 
one  meets  such  a  woman,  we  must  stop  her,  talk  with  her,  insult 
her,  hold  dalliance  with  her,  and  so  from  their  own  conduct  they 
construed  my  order. 

"  The  editor  of  the  Boston  Courier  may  so  deal  with  common 
women,  and  out  of  the  abundance  of  his  heart  his  mouth  may  speak. 
But  so  do  not  I. 

"  Why,  these  she-adders  of  New  Orleans  themselves  were  at  once 
tamed  into  propriety  of  conduct  by  the  order,  and  from  that  day 
no  woman  has  either  insulted  or  annoyed  any  live  soldier  or  officer, 
and  of  a  certainty  no  soldier  has  insulted  any  woman. 

"  When  I  passed  through  Baltimore  on  the  23d  of  February  last, 
members  of  my  staff  were  insulted  by  the  gestures  of  the  ladies  (?) 
there.     Not  so  in  New  Orleans.         *        *        * 

"  I  can  only  say  that  I  would  issue  the  order  again  under  like 
circumstances." 

Among  the  women  of  New  Orleans  there  were  some  who  knew 
how  to  maintain,  and  even  assert,  their  fidelity  to  the  Confederate 


344  THE   WOMAN    OEDEE. 

cause,  without  forgetting  the  courtesy  due  to  officers  of  the  United 
States  who  were  simply  doing  their  duty.  To  such  General  Butler 
and  his  staff  were  as  complaisant  as  their  duty  permitted.  The 
case  of  Mrs.  Slocomb  and  her  daughter  Mrs*.  Urquhart,  may  be 
cited  in  illustration.  These  ladies  applied  for  a  pass  to  enable  them 
to  go  to  their  country  house,  but  stated  with  courteous  frankness, 
that  they  could  not  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  war,  they  said,  they  had  desired  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Union ;  but  now  all  their  male  friends  and  connec- 
tions were  in  the  Confederate  army ;  one  of  them  had  lost  a  son, 
the  other  a  brother,  in  the  service ;  and  they  were  now  unalterably 
devoted  to  the  cause,  which  they  deemed  just,  noble,  and  holy. 
General  Butler  said  to  them,  that  he  would  make  an  exception  to 
his  rule  and  grant  them  the  pass,  if  they  would  give  up  their  spa- 
cious town  house  for  the  use  of  the  United  States  during  their  ab- 
sence, as  he  required  such  a  house  for  his  head-quarters.  Mrs.  Slo- 
comb hesitated.  With  tears  in  her  eyes,  she  said  that  her  house 
was  endeared  to  her  by  a  thousand  tender  associations,  and  was 
now  dearer  to  her  than  ever.  She  did  not  see  how  she  could  give 
it  up. 

The  general  said,  that  he  "  experienced  peculiar  pleasure  in  meet- 
ing ladies  who,  while  they  were  enemies  to  his  country,  were  yet 
so  frank,  so  truthful  and  devoted,  and  remarked  that  if  New  Or- 
leans had  been  defended  by  an  army  of  such  women  as  Mrs.  Urqu- 
hart, he  believed  the  Union  army  would  have  had  considerable 
trouble  in  capturing  the  city.  In  regard  to  their  house  he  assured 
them  that,  although  he  had  the  power  to  take  it,  yet  without  their 
permission  it  should  not  be  occupied,  nor  a  brick  of  it  be  molested, 
unless  indeed,  the  city  was  ravaged  by  yellow  fever,  in  which  case 
he  might  be  obliged  to  take  every  house  suitable  for  hospital  pur- 
poses ;  and  he  added,  if  I  can  find  any  other  reason  for  making  you 
an  exception  to  my  rule  prohibiting  passes  to  any  who  refuse  to 
take  the  oath,  I  will  do  it." 

Happily,  he  found  such  a  reason.  A  day  or  two  after,  he  wrote 
to  the  ladies  :  "  I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you,  that  my  necessi- 
ties, which  caused  the  request  for  permission  to  use  your  house  dur- 
ing your  absence  this  summer,  have  been  relieved.  I  have  taken 
the  house  of  General  Twiggs,  late  of  the  United  States  Army,  for 
quarters.     Inclined  never  on  slight  causes  to  use  the  power  intrust- 


THE   WOMAN    ORDER.  845 

ed  to  me  to  grieve  even  sentiments  only  entitled  to  respect  from 
the  courage  and  ladylike  propriety  of  manner  in  which  they  were 
avowed ;  it  is  gratifying  to  be  enabled  to  yield  to  the  appeal  you 
made  for  favor  and  protection  by  the  United  States.  Yours  shall 
be  the  solitary  exception  to  the  general  rule  adopted,  that  they  who 
ask  protection  must  take  upon  themselves  corresponding  obliga- 
tions or  do  an  equal  favor  to  the  government.  I  have  an  aged 
mother  at  home,  who,  like  you,  might  request  the  inviolability  of 
hearthstone  and  roof  tree  from  the  presence  of  a  stranger.  For 
her  sake  you  shall  have  the  pass  you  ask,  which  is  sent  herewith. 
As  I  did  myself  the  honor  to  say  personally,  you  may  leave  the  city 
with  no  fear  that  your  house  will  be  interfered  with  by  any  exer- 
cise of  military  right;  but  will  be  safe  under  the  laws  of  the  United 
States.  Trusting  that  the  inexorable  logic  of  events  will  convict 
you  of  wrong  toward  your  country,  when  all  else  has  failed,  I  re- 
main," etc. 

Mrs.  Slocomb  acknowledged  the  favor :  "  Permit  me  to  return 
my  sincere  thanks  for  the  special  permit  to  leave,  which  you  have 
so  kindly  granted  to  myself  and  family,  as  also  for  the  protection 
promised  to  my  property.  Knowing  that  we  have  no  claim  for  any 
exception  in  our  favor,  this  generous  act  calls  loudly  upon  our  grate- 
ful hearts,  and  hereafter,  while  praying  earnestly  for  the  cause  we 
love  so  much,  we  shall  never  forget  the  liberality  with  which  our 
request  has  been  granted  by  one  whose  power  here  reminds  us 
painfully  that  our  enemies  are  more  magnanimous  than  our  citizens 
are  brave." 

Another  instance.  Mrs.  Beauregard,  the  wife  of  the  Confederate 
general,  and  her  mother,  were  residing  in  the  mansion  of  Slidell, 
the  rebel  emissary  to  France,  who  had  lent  it  to  them  during  his 
absence.  This  house  being  sequestered,  Lieutenant  Kinsman  went 
to  take  possession,  not  knowing  by  whom  it  was  occupied.  Those 
distinguished  and  amiable  ladies  received  the  officer  with  dignity 
and  politeness.  He  reported  the  fact  of  their  occupation  of  the 
house  to  the  commanding  general,  who  immediately  ordered  that 
they  should  be  allowed  to  reside  in  it  undisturbed.  There  they  re- 
mained, honored  equally  by  the  Union  officers  and  by  the  people 
of  the  city. 


EXECUTION   OP  MUMEORD. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

EXECUTION    OF    MUMEORD. 

The  crime  for  which  Mumford  suffered  death  has  been  already- 
related.  If  in  the  act  of  tearing  down  the  flag  of  his  country,  he 
had  fallen  dead  upon  the  roof  of  the  Mint,  from  the  fire  of  the 
howitzers  in  the  main-top  of  the  Pensacola,  no  one  could  have 
charged  aught  against  those  who  had  the  honor  of  that  flag  in 
charge.  His  offense  was  two-fold :  he  insulted  the  flag  of  his  coun- 
try, and  endangered  the  lives  of  innocent  fellow-citizens  by  drawing 
the  fire  of  the  fleet.  His  life  was  justly  forfeited  to  the  United 
States  and  to  New  Orleans.  His  life,  moreover,  was  not  a  valuable 
one  ;  he  was  one  of  those  who  live  by  preying  upon  society,  not  by 
serving  it.  He  was  a  professional  gambler.  Rather  a  fine-look- 
ing man,  tall,  black-bearded  ;  age  forty-two. 

After  the  occupation  of  the  city  by  the  troops,  he  still  appeared 
in  the  streets,  bold,  reckless  and  defiant,  one  of  the  heroes  of  the 
populace.  He  was  seen  even  in  front  of  the  St.  Charles  hotel,  re- 
lating his  exploit  to  a  circle  of  admirers,  boasting  of  it,  daring  the 
Union  authorities  to  molest  him.  He  did  this  once  too  often.  He 
was  arrested  and  tried  by  a  military  commission,  who  condemned 
him  to  death,  and  General  Butler  approved  the  sentence,  and  or- 
dered its  execution. 

Special  Oedee  No.  10. 

"New  Oeleans,  June  5, 1862. 

"  William  B.  Mumford,  a  citizen  of  New  Orleans,  having  been  convict 
ed  before  the  military  commission  of  treason  and  an  overt  act  thereof,  in 
tearing  down  the  United  States  flag  from  a  public  building  of  the  United 
States,  for  the  purpose  of  inciting  other  evil-minded  persons  to  farther  resis- 
tance to  the  laws  and  arms  of  the  United  States,  after  said  flag  was  placed 
there  by  Commodore  Farragut,  of  the  United  States  navy, 

"It  is  ordered  that  he  be  executed,  according  to  the  sentence  of  the  said 
military  commission,  on  Saturday,  June  7th  instant,  between  the  hours  of 
8  a.  if.  and  12  m.,  under  the  direction  of  the  provost-marshal  of  the  district 
of  New  Orleans ;  and  for  so  doing,  this  shall  be  his  sufficient  warrant." 

During  his  trial  and  after  his  condemnation,  he  showed  neither 
fear  nor  contrition;  evidently  expected  a  commutation  of  his  sen- 


EXECUTION   OF   MUMFORD.  347 

tence,  not  believing  that  General  Butler  would  dare  execute  it. 
His  friends,  the  Thugs  and  gamblers  of  the  city,  openly  defied  the 
general ;  resolved,  in  council  assembled,  not  to  petition  for  his  par- 
don ;  bound  themselves  to  assassinate  General  Butler  if  Mumford 
were  hanged.  These  things  were  duly  reported  to  the  general  by 
his  detective  police,  and  were  a  common  topic  of  conversation  in 
the  city.  It  was  the  almost  universal  belief  that  the  condemned 
man  would  be  brought  to  the  gallows  and  there  reprieved — accord- 
ing  to  the  cruel  blank-cartridge  mode  of  weak  governments. 

While  the  friends  of  Mumford  were  thus  building  up  a  wall  be- 
tween him  and  the  chance  of  pardon,  the  case  was  further  com- 
plicated by  the  arrest  and  condemnation  of  the  six  paroled  prisoners, 
part  of  the  Monroe  Guard,  who  had  conspired  to  break  away  to 
the  rebel  camp.     Their  sentence  also,  the  general  approved  : 

Geneeal  Oedee  No.  36. 

"New  Oeleans,  May  31,  1862. 

"  Abraham  McLane,  Daniel  Doyle,  Edward  C.  Smith,  Patrick  Kane, 
George  L.  Williams,  and  Wm.  Stanley,  all  enlisted  men  in  the  forces  of  the 
supposed  Confederate  States,  captured  at  the  surrender  of  Forts  St.  Philip 
and  Jackson,  have  violated  their  parole  of  honor,  under  which  they,  as  pris- 
oners of  war,  were  permitted  to  return  to  their  homes,  instead  of  heing 
confined  in  prison,  as  have  the  unfortunates  of  the  United  States  soldiers, 
who,  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  rebel  chiefs,  have  languished  for  months 
in  the  closest  durance. 

"Warned  by  their  officers  that  they  must  not  do  this  thing,  they  deliber- 
ately organized  themselves  in  military  array — chose  themselves  and  com- 
rades officers,  relying,  as  they  averred,  upon  promises  of  prominent  citizens 
of  New  Orleans  for  a  supply  of  arms  and  equipments.  They  named  them- 
selves the  Monroe  Life  Guard,  in  honor  of  the  late  mayor  of  New  Orleans. 

u  They  conspired  together,  and  arranged  the  manner  in  which  they  might 
force  the  pickets  of  the  United  States,  and  thus  join  the  enemy  at  Corinth. 

"Tried  before  an  impartial  military  commission — fully  heard  in  their  de- 
fense— these  facts  appeared  beyond  doubt  or  contradiction,  and  they  were 
convicted. 

"  There  is  no  known  pledge  more  sacred — there  is  no  military  offense 
whose  punishment  is  better  defined  or  more  deserved.  To  this  crime  but 
one  punishment  has  ever  been  assigned  by  any  nation — Death. 

"  This  sentence  has  been  approved  by  the  commanding  general.     To  the 
end  that  all  others  may  take  warning — that  solemn  obligations  may  be  pre- 
served— that  war  may  not  lose  all  honorable  ties — that  clemency  may  not 
be  abused,  and  that  justice  be  done : 
15* 


348  EXECUTION   OF   MUMFOED. 

"It  is  ordered  that  Abraham  McLane,  Daniel  Doyle,  Edward  C.  Smith, 
Patrick  Kane,  George  L.  Williams,  and  William  Stanley  be  shot  to  death, 
under  the  direction  of  the  provost-marshal,  immediately  after  reveille,  on 
Wednesday,  the  4th  day  of  June  next ;  and  for  so  doing,  this  shall  be  the 
provost-marshal's  sufficient  warrant." 

Here  were  seven  men  under  sentence  of  death  at  the  same  time 
— seven  human  lives  hanging  upon  the  word  of  one  man.  General 
Butler  is  not  a  person  of  the  philanthropical  or  humanitarian  cast  of 
character ;  which  is  compatible  with  strange  hardness  of  heart  to- 
ward individuals.  Nor  is  he  unaware  of  the  frightful  cruelty  to 
society  of  pardoning  men  justly  condemned.  He  is  abundantly 
capable  of  preferring  the  good  of  the  many  to  the  convenience  of 
one,  and  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the  entreaties  of  a  criminal,  when,  on 
the  other  hand,  stands  a  wronged  community  asking  protection, 
or  an  outraged  country  demanding  justice  upon  its  mortal  foes. 
The  fluid  that  courses  his  veins  is  blood,  not  milk  and  water. 
Nevertheless,  he  has  the  feelings  that  belong  to  a  human  being, 
and  these  seven  forfeited  lives  hang  heavy  upon  his  heart. 

In  the  case  of  Mumford  he  had  no  misgivings.  He  was  able  to 
endure  the  harrowing  spectacle  of  the  man's  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren falling  upon  their  knees  before  him,  begging  the  life  of  husband 
and  father,  and  yet  keep  firmly  to  a  just  resolve.  He  was  able  to 
resist  the  tears  and  entreaties  of  his  own  tender-hearted  wife,  whose 
judgment  he  respected,  to  whose  judgment  he  often  deferred.  Far 
more  easily  was  he  able  to  defy  and  scorn  the  threat enings  of  an 
impious  clan  of  gamblers  and  ruffians.  Mumford  must  die.  That 
was  the  deliberate  and  changeless  fiat  of  his  best  judgment. 

Nor  was  he  easily  induced  to  alter  his  determination  with  regard 
to  the  six  paroled  prisoners.  The  events  of  the  war  had  constantly 
deepened  in  his  mind  a  sense  of  the  general  cruelty  of  pardons.  He 
could  not  but  think  that  the  Union  armies  would  not  have  lost  a 
hundred  thousand  men  by  desertion,  if,  from  the  beginning,  the  just 
penalty  of  death  had  been  inexorably  inflicted  ;  no,  nor  one  thou- 
sand ;  perhaps  not  one  hundred.  He  had  imbibed  a  horror  of  all 
those  loose,  irresolute,  chicken-hearted  modes  of  proceeding,  which 
have  cost  the  country  such  incalculable  suffering  and  blood.  It  is 
instinctive  in  such  a  man  to  know  that,  in  this  world,  the  kindest, 
as  well  as  the  wisest  of  all  things,  is  the  rigid  observance  of  just 


EXECUTION    OF    MUMFOKD.  349 

iaw,  the  exact  and  prompt  infliction  of  just  penalty.  So,  between 
his  sense  of  what  was  due  to  those  six  men,  and  his  anxious  con- 
sideration of  extenuating  circumstances,  he  lived  many  distracted 
days  and  nights.     He  could  neither  eat  nor  sleep. 

The  pressure  upon  him  was  intense,  as  it  always  is  upon  men 
whose  word  can  save  lives.  Every  body  pleaded  for  them.  His 
own  officers  besieged  his  ears  for  pardon.  The  officers  of  the 
condemned  besought  it.  Union  men  of  the  city  implored  it. 
And  at  night,  when  the  world  was  shut  out,  there  was  still  a 
voice  to  repeat  the  arguments  of  the  day.  The  six  prisoners 
were  poor,  simple,  ignorant  souls.  One  of  them  had  said,  when 
arraigned  before  the  commission,  that  he  did  not  understand  any- 
thing about  this  paroling. 

"  Paroling,"  said  he,  "  is  for  officers  and  gentlemen :  we  are  not 
gentlemen." 

It  is  probable  that  this  remark  saved  the  lives  of  them  all, 
for  it  suggested  the  line  of  argument  and  the  kind  of  consideration 
which,  probably,  had  most  to  do  with  changing  the  general's  re- 
solve. "  We  are  not  gentlemen," — an  admission  which  no  north- 
ern prisoner  would  be  likely  to  make.  At  the  south  those  words 
really  have  a  meaning ;  the  poor  people  there  feel  a  difference  of 
rank  between  themselves  and  the  lords  of  the  plantation,  and  recog- 
nize a  lower  grade  of  personal  obligation.  A  gentleman  must  keep 
his  word ;  we  poor  people  may  get  away  if  we  can. 

The  earnest  petition  of  those  stanch  Unionists,  Mr.  J.  A.  Rosier 
and  Mr.  T.  J.  Durant,  had  great  weight  with  the  general  also. 

"These  men,"  wrote  they,  "are  justly  liable  to  the  condign 
punishment  which  the  military  law  metes  out  to  so  grave  and  hein- 
ous an  offense.  But  a  powerful  government  never  diminishes  its 
strength  by  acts  of  clemency  and  mercy.  "No  doubt,  General,  these 
men  were  partly  driven  by  want,  partly  deluded,  and  have  long- 
been  so ;  superior  minds  have  heretofore  given  them  false  impres- 
sions, and  they  have  been  acting  under  such  views  as  have  at  last 
brought  them  to  the  threshold  of  the  grave.  Unknown  to  us,  even 
from  report,  prior  to  their  trial  and  condemnation,  we  see  in  them 
only  men  and  brethren  who  have  erred  and  are  in  danger.  Gene- 
ral, the  event  has  just  shown  that  these  men  are  unable  to  resist  the 
force  of  the  government,  or  elude  its  vigilance  and  the  fidelity  of 
its  officers.     They  are  subdued  and  powerless.     Their  case  excites 


EXECUTION    OF   MUMFOEP. 

our  commiseration,  and  that  of  hundreds  of  others.  We  ask  you 
to  have  mercy  upon  them.  At  the  present  moment  the  government 
needs  no  excessive  rigor  to  enforce  obedience  or  command  respect. 
Pardon  their  offense.  The  act  will  restore  them  to  sobriety  of 
reason  and  to  useful  employment.  It  will  fill  them  with  gratitude 
to  you  and  to  the  powerful  government  you  represent.  It  will  de- 
monstrate the  mildness  of  its  authority,  and  convince  our  fellow- 
citizens  that  mercy  and  clemency,  no  less  than  force  and  strength, 
are  essential  attributes  of  the  power  you  represent.  General,  re- 
ceive this  prayer  for  life,  in  the  spirit  which  dictates  it — an  earnest 
and  heartfelt  desire  to  promote  reconciliation  and  peace." 

To  this  letter,  which  was  received  the  day  before  the  one 
named  for  the  execution,  General  Butler  replied : 

"  Your  communication  has  received,  as  it  deserved,  most  serious 
consideration.  The  representations  of  gentlemen  of  your  known 
probity,  intelligence,  high  social  position,  and  thorough  acquaint- 
ance with  the  character,  temper,  habits  of  thought  and  motives  of 
action  of  the  people  of  New  Orleans,  ought  to  have  great  and  de- 
termining weight  with  me,  a  stranger  among  you,  called  upon  to 
act  promptly  under  the  best  light  I  may  in  matters  affecting  the 
administration  of  justice.  In  addition,  your  well-known  and  fully 
appreciated  unswerving  attachment  to  the  government  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  renders  it  certain  that  nothing  but  the  best  interests  of 
the  country  could  have  influenced  your  opinion. 

"  Of  the  justice  which  calls  for  the  death  of  these  men  I  can  have 
no  doubt.  The  mercy  it  would  be  to  others,  in  like  cases  tempted 
to  offend,  to  have  the  terrible  example  of  the  punishment  to  which 
these  misguided  men  are  sentenced,  is  the  only  matter  left  for  dis- 
cussion. 

"  Upon  this  question  you  who  have  suffered  for  the  Union,  wh^ 
have  stood  by  it  in  evil  and  in  good  report — you  who  have  lived 
and  are  hereafter  to  live  in  this  city  as  your  home,  when  all  are 
gathered  again  under  the  flag  which  has  been  so  foully  outraged, 
and  to  whose  wrongs  these  men's  lives  are  forfeit — you  who,  I  have 
heard,  exerted  your  talents  to  save  the  lives  of  Union  men  in  the 
hour  of  their  peril,  ought  to  have  a  determining  weight  when  your 
opinions  have  been  deliberately  formed.  You  ask  for  these  nen's 
lives.  You  shall  have  them.  You  say  that  the  clemency  of  th-'*  gov- 
ernment is  best  for  the  cause  we  all  have  at  heart.     Be  it  so»    You 


EXECUTION    OF   MTJMFORD.  351 

are  likely  to  be  better  informed  upon  this  than  I  am.  I  have  no 
wish  to  do  anything  but  that  which  will  show  the  men  of  Louisi- 
ana how  great  a  good  they  were  tempted  to  throw  away  when 
they  were  led  to  raise  their  hands  against  the  constitution  and  laws 
of  the  United  States. 

"  If  this  example  of  mercy  is  lost  upon  those  in  the  same  situa- 
tion, swift  justice  can  overtake  others  in  like  manner  offending." 

The  men  were  reprieved,  and  consigned  to  Ship  Island  "  during 
the  pleasure  of  the  president  of  the  United  States."  This  was  on 
the  fourth  of  June.     Mumford  was  to  die  on  the  seventh. 

The  scaffold  was  erected  in  front  of  the  Mint,  near  the  scene  of 
his  crime.  To  the  last  minute  General  Butler  was  earnestly  im- 
plored to  spare  him.  The  venerable  Dr.  Mercer,  a  man  of  eighty 
honorable  years,  once  the  familiar  friend  and  frequent  host  of  Henry 
Clay,  a  gentleman  of  boundless  generosity  and  benevolence,  the 
patron  of  all  that  redeemed  New  Orleans,  came  to  head-quarters  an 
hour  before  the  execution,  to  ask  for  Mumford's  life. 

"Give  me  this  man's  life,  General,"  said  he,  while  the  tears  rolled 
down  his  aged  cheeks.     "  It  is  but  a  scratch  of  your  pen." 

"  True,"  replied  the  general.  "  But  a  scratch  of  my  pen  could 
burn  New  Orleans.  I  could  as  soon  do  the  one  act  as  the  other.  I 
think  one  would  be  as  wrong  as  the  other." 

In  truth,  the  reprieve  of  the  six  had  rendered  the  saving  of  Mum- 
ford  impossible.  That  act  of  mercy,  like  all  the  rest  of  General 
Butler's  acts  in  New  Orleans,  was  utterly  misinterpreted  by  the 
people,  who  attributed  it  to  weakness  and  cowardice.  It  was,  and 
is,  the  conviction  of  the  best  informed  officers  and  Union  citizens 
then  in  New  Orleans,  that  upon  the  question  of  hanging  or  sparing 
Mumford  depended  the  final  suppression  or  the  continued  turbu- 
lence of  the  mob  of  the  city.  Mumford  hanged,  the  mob  was  sub- 
dued. Mumford  spared,  the  mob  remained  to  be  quelled  by  final 
grape  and  canister.  There  was  absolutely  needed  for  the  peace- 
ful government  of  the  city,  a  certainty  that  General  Butler  dared 
hang  a  rebel. 

Mumford  met  his  doom  with  the  composure  with  which  bad  men 
usually  die.  He  said  that  "  the  offense  for  which  he  was  condemned 
was  committed  under  excitement,  and  he  did  not  consider  he  was 
suffering  justly.  He  conjured  all  who  heard  him  to  act  justly  to  all 
men ;  to  rear  their  children  properly ;  and  when  they  met  death 


352  EXECUTION   OP   MUMFORD. 

they  would  meet  it  firmly.     He  was  prepared  to  die ;  and  as  ho 
had  never  wronged  any  one,  lie  hoped  to  receive  mercy." 

"The  unconscious  is  the  alone  complete,"  says  the  German  poet. 
It  is  only  good  people  who,  on  the  approach  of  death,  are  dis- 
mayed and  ashamed  at  reviewing  their  lives — comparing  what 
might  have  been  with  wThat  has  been. 

An  immense  concourse  beheld  the  execution.  The  turbulent 
spirits  of  New  Orleans  drew  the  proper  inferences  from  the  scene. 
Every  one  concerned  in  the  administration  of  justice  in  the  city 
felt  a  certain  confidence,  before  unfelt,  in  their  ability  to  rule  the 
city  without  violence.  Every  soldier  felt  safer ;  and  the  friends  of 
the  Union  had  an  assurance  that,  at  length,  they  wrere  really  on  the 
stronger  side.     Order  reigned  in  Warsaw. 

The  name  of  Mumford,  if  we  may  believe  Confederate  newspa- 
pers, was  immediately  added  to  the  "roll"  of  martyrs  to  the  cause  of 
liberty.  The  fugitive  governor  of  Louisiana,  from  some  safe  retreat 
up  the  river,  fulminated  a  proclamation  about  this  time,  in  which' 
he  commented  upon  the  death  of  Mumford  in  the  style  of  eloquence 
familiar  to  the  readers  of  De  Bowr,s  Review — a  curious  mixture  of 
Patrick  Henry  and  Bedlam. 

"  The  loss  of  New  Orleans,"  said  he,  "  and  the  opening  of  the 
Mississippi,  which  will  soon  follow,  have  greatly  increased  our  dan- 
ger, and  deprived  us  of  many  resources  for  defense.  With  less 
means,  we  have  more  to  do  than  before.  Every  weapon  we  have, 
and  all  that  our  skillful  mechanics  can  make,  will  be  needed.  Let 
every  citizen  be  an  armed  sentinel,  to  give  warning  of  any  approach 
of  the  insolent  foe.  Let  all  our  river  banks  swarm  with  armed  pa- 
triots, to  teach  the  hated  invader  that  the  rifle  will  be  his  only  wel- 
come on  his  errands  of  plunder  and  destruction.  Wherever  he 
dares  to  raise  the  hated  emblem  of  tyranny,  tear  it  down,  and  rend 
it  in  tatters. 

"  The  noble  heroism  of  the  patriot  Mumford,  has  placed  his  name 
high  on  the  list  of  our  martyred  sons.  When  the  federal  navy 
reached  New  Orleans,  a  squad  of  marines  was  sent  on  shore, 
who  hoisted  their  flag  on  the  Mint.  The  city  was  not  occupied  by 
the  United  States  troops,  nor  had  they  reached  there.  The  place 
was  not  in  their  possession.  William  B.  Mumford  pulled  down  the 
detested  symbol  with  his  own  hands,  and  for  that  was  condemned 
to  be  hung  by  General  Butler  after  his  arrival.     Brought  in  full 


EXECUTION    OF   MUMFORD.  353 

view  of  the  scaffold,  his  murderers  hoped  to  appall  his  heroic  soul, 
by  the  exhibition  of  the  implements  of  ignominious  death.  "With 
the  evidence  of  their  determination  to  consummate  their  brutal  pur- 
pose before  his  eyes,  they  offered  him  life  on  the  condition  that  he 
would  abjure  his  country,  and  swear  allegiance  to  her  foe.  He 
spurned  the  offer.  Scorning  to  stain  his  soul  with  such  foul  dis- 
honor, he  met  his  fate  courageously,  and  has  transmitted  to  his 
countrymen  a  fresh  example  of  what  men  will  do  and  dare  when 
under  the  inspiration  of  fervid  patriotism.  I  shall  not  forget  the 
outrage  of  his  murder,  nor  shall  it  pass  unatoned. 

"  I  am  not  introducing  any  new  regulations  for  the  conduct  of 
our  citizens,  but  am  only  placing  before  them  those  that  every 
nation  at  war  recognizes  as  necessary  and  proper  to  be  enforced. 
It  is  needless,  therefore,  to  say  that  they  will  not  be  relaxed.  On 
the  contrary,  I  am  but  awaiting  the  assistance  and  presence  of  the 
general  appointed  to  the  department,  to  inaugurate  the  most  effect- 
ual method  for  their  enforcement.     It  is  well  to  repeat  them : 

"  Trading  with  the  enemy  is  prohibited  under  all  circumstances. 

"  Traveling  to  and  from  New  Orleans  and  other  places  occupied 
by  the  enemy  is  forbidden.     All  passengers  will  be  arrested. 

"  Citizens  going  to  those  places,  and  returning  with  the  enemy's 
usual  passport,  will  be  arrested. 

"  Conscripts  or  militia-men,  having  in  possession  such  passports, 
and  seeking  to  shun  duty,  under  the  pretext  of  a  parole,  shall  be 
treated  as  public  enemies.  No  such  papers  will  be  held  as  sufficient 
excuse  for  inaction  by  any  citizen. 

"  The  utmost  vigilance  must  be  used  by  officers  and  citizens  in 
the  detection  of  spies  and  salaried  informers,  and  their  apprehension 
promptly  effected. 

"  Tories  must  suffer  the  fate  that  every  betrayer  of  his  country 
deserves. 

u  Confederate  notes  shall  be  received  and  used  as  the  currency 
of  the  country. 

"  River  steamboats  must,  in  no  case,  be  permitted  to  be  captured. 
Burn  them  when  they  can  not  be  saved. 

"  Provisions  may  be  conveyed  to  New  Orleans  only  in  charge  of 
officers,  and  under  the  precautionary  regulations  governing  commu- 
nication between  belligerents. 

"  The  loss  of  New  Orleans,  bitter  humiliation  as  it  was  to  Louisi- 


354  GENERAL   BUTLER   AND   THE   FOREIGN   CONSULS. 

anians,  has  not  created  despondency,  nor  shaken  our  abiding  faith 
in  our  success.  Not  to  the  eye  of  the  enthusiastic  patriot  alone,  who 
might  be  expected  to  color  events  with  his  hopes,  but  to  the  more 
impassioned  gaze  of  the  statesman  that  success  was  certain  from 
the  beginning.  It  is  only  the  timid,  the  unreflecting,  and  the  prop 
erty  owner,  who  thinks  more  of  his  possessions  than  his  country, 
that  will  succumb  to  the  depressing  influences  of  disaster.  The 
great  heart  of  the  people  has  swelled  with  more  intense  aspirations 
for  the  cause  the  more  it  seemed  to  totter.  Their  confidence  is 
well  founded.  The  possession  by  the  enemy  of  our  seaboard  and 
main  water-courses  ought  to  have  been  foreseen  by  us.  His  over- 
whelming naval  force  necessarily  accomplished  the  same  results 
attained  by  the  British  with  the  same  force  in  their  war  of  subjuga- 
tion.   The  final  result  will  be  the  same,"  etc.,  etc. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

GENERAL   BUTLER   AND  THE   FOREIGN   CONSULS. 

"  Whatever  else  may  be  said  of  business  in  New  Orleans,"  re- 
marked the  humorous  Delta,  "  one  thing  is  certain,  consuls  are 
lower." 

Consuls  were  very  high  indeed  during  the  first  few  weeks  of  the 
occupation  of  the  city.  Their  position  in  New  Orleans  had  been 
one  of  first-rate  importance  during  the  rebellion ;  for  it  was  chiefly 
through  the  foreign  capitalists  of  the  city  that  the  Confederacy 
had  been  supplied  with  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  and  it  had 
been  the  congenial  office  of  the  consuls  to  afford  them  aid  and  pro 
tection  in  that  lucrative  business.  They  forgot  that  they  were 
only  consuls.  They  forgot  the  United  States.  Often  communi- 
cating directly  with  the  cabinet  ministers  of  their  countries,  always 
flattered  and  made  much  of  by  the  supporters  of  the  rebellion,  ex- 
pecting with  the  most  perfect  confidence  the  triumph  of  secession, 
representing  powers  every  one  of  which  desired  or  counted  upon 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.      355 

its  success,  they  assumed  the  tone  of  embassadors ;  they  courted 
the  power  which  they  assumed  would  finally  rule  in  New  Orleans, 
and  held  in  contempt  or  aversion  the  one  to  which  they  were 
accredited. 

These  gentlemen  gave  General  Butler  more  trouble,  caused  him 
more  hard  work,  than  any  other  class  in  New  Orleans.  They 
opposed  every  measure  of  his  Avhich  could  be  supposed  to  bear 
upon  any  man  of  foreign  origin.  Mr.  Seward  was  overrun  with 
their  protests,  complaints  and  petitions.  If  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury  approved  the  commander  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf 
as  the  cheapest  of  generals,  the  secretary  of  state  found  him  much 
the  most  troublesome.  The  correspondence  relating  to  this  single 
subject  would  fill  two  or  three  volumes  as  large  as  this. 

A  collision  between  the  foreign  consuls  and  General  Butler 
almost  necessarily  involved  a  difference  between  General  Butler 
and  Mr.  Seward.  The  two  men  are  moral  antipodes.  Mr.  Seward 
has  too  little,  General  Butler  has  enough,  of  the  spirit  of  warfare. 
Mr.  Seward,  by  the  constitution  of  his  mind  and  the  habits  of 
thirty  years,  is  a  conciliator,  one  who  shrinks  from  the  final  ordeal, 
who  is  reluctant  to  face  the  last  consequences,  skillful  to  postpone, 
explain  away,  and  "  make  things  pleasant."  General  Butler,  on 
the  contrary,  rejoices  in  a  clear  issue,  goes  straight  to  the  point, 
uses  language  that  bears  but  one  meaning,  and  "takes  the  responsi- 
bility" as  naturally  as  he  takes  his  breakfast.  Mr.  Seward  so 
dreaded  the  approach  of  the  war,  that  he  was  more  than  willing  to 
make  concessions  which  would  pass  the  final,  the  inevitable  con- 
flict over  to  the  next  generation.  General  Butler  picked  up  the 
glove  with  a  feeling  akin  to  exultation,  and  adopted  war  as  the 
business  of  the  country  and  his  own,  desiring  no  pause  till  the 
controversy  was  settled  absolutely  and  for  ever.  Mr.  Seward  re- 
garded the  southern  oligarchy  as  erring  fellow-citizens,  who  could 
be  won  back  to  their  allegiance.  General  Butler  regarded  them  as 
traitors,  utterly  incapable  of  conversion,  who  could  be  rendered 
harmless  only  by  being  made  powerless.  Mr.  Seward,  as  the  head 
of  the  foreign  department,  felt  that  all  his  duties  were  subordinate 
to  the  one  cardinal,  central  object  of  his  policy,  the  maintenance 
of  peace  with  foreign  nations  while  the  rebellion  showed  front. 
General  Butler,  always  breasting  the  foremost  wave  of  the  rebel- 
lion, could  not  be  very  sensitive  to  the  gentle  murmurs  of  Mr. 


356       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

Seward's  reception-room.  The  men  were  subject  to  two  opposite, 
antagonistic  magnetisms.  General  Butler  was  John  Heenan  peg- 
ging away  at  Sayers,  thinking  of  nothing  but  getting  in  fair 
blows.  Mr.  Seward  was  the  distressed  bottle-holder  who  wanted 
Heenan  to  win,  but  thought  Sayers  too  good  a  fellow  to  be 
smashed. 

Hence  we  find  that  when  the  foreign  ministers  brought  their  com- 
plaints to  the  department  of  state,  Mr.  Seward  generally,  and  at 
once,  took  it  for  granted  that  General  Butler  was  wrong.  He 
could  do  no  other  way,  without  insincerity.  The  men  are  so  es- 
sentially antagonistic,  that  no  really  characteristic  act  of  either 
could  fail  to  excite  in  the  other  an  instinctive  disapproval. 

Similar  remarks  apply  to  Mr.  Reverdy  Johnson,  of  Maryland, 
the  eminent  and  very  able  lawyer  who  was  sent  by  Mr.  Seward 
to  New  Orleans  to  investigate  the  consular  imbroglio.  In  the 
Charleston  Convention  of  1860,  he  said  that  "under  almost  any  con- 
ceivable circumstances,  Maryland  will  acknowledge  her  rights  as  a 
southern  state,  and  will  vote  with  the  people  of  the  South."  He 
spoke  then  from  his  heart.  If,  in  1862,  he  thought  secession  a 
mistake  and  a  crime,  in  all  other  particulars  he  was  in  accord  with 
his  southern  friends.  His  heart  and  mind,  his  friends  and  habits, 
were  southern.  In  New  Orleans  he  associated  almost  exclusively 
with  secessionists — who  felt,  who  avowed,  who  boasted  that  he 
was  their  friend.  Granting  that  he  had  the  most  honorable  in- 
tentions (I  am  sure  he  had  no  other),  it  was  not  in  human  nature 
that  he  should  judge  justly  between  General  Butler  and  the  rebels 
of  New  Orleans.  Nor  can  we  doubt  that  he  was  sent  to  New 
Orleans,  and  knew  that  he  was  sent,  to  comply  with  the  demands 
of  foreign  powers,  if  it  could  be  done  without  concessions  too  pal- 
pably humiliating. 

Here  is  the  point:  every  one  knows  the  difference  that  may 
exist  between  a  law  case  as  presented  in  the  law  papers,  and  the 
known  facts  of  the  case.  A  merchant,  for  example,  finds  it  con- 
venient to  "make  over"  his  property  to  a  friend.  The  papers  show 
that  he  has  not  a  dollar  in  the  world,  while  the  fact  is,  that  he  pos- 
sesses a  quarter  of  a  million.  Every  one  in  the  court  may  know 
the  fact;  yet  the  papers  carry  the  day.  A  bank  may  find  it 
advantageous  to  seem  to  possess  no  coin.  Any  lawyer  can  suggest 
a  mode  by  which   this  can  be  done,  and  a  judge  in   ordinary  times 


GENERAL  BFTLEE  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.       "57 

might  be  obliged  to  decide  in  accordance  with  the  documents. 
What  General  Butler  would  have  liked  was  a  commissioner  who 
would  have  sought  out  the  hidden  fact,  not  one  who  was  content 
with  the  paper  case.  But  Mr.  Seward  was  chiefly  concerned  to 
keep  the  peace  with  foreign  powers,  to  deprive  them  not  merely  of 
all  cause  of  complaint,  but  of  all  pretext.  Far  be  it  from  me  to 
presume  to  say  that  he  was  wrong.  "  One  at  a  time"  is  a  good  rule, 
when  a  nation  has  a  war  on  its  hands.  His  course  may  have  been 
justified  by  necessity. 

It  is  impossible  to  detail  here  all  the  points  of  collision  between 
General  Butler  and  the  foreign  consuls.  The  more  important  cases 
were  the  following : 


Case  of  the  British  Guard. 

The  British  Guard  consisted  of  fifty  or  sixty  Englishmen,  old 
residents  of  New  Orleans,  many  of  them  men  of  large  property 
and  extensive  business.  On  returning  to  their  armory,  late  in  the 
evening,  after  the  disbanding  of  the  Foreign  Legion,  they  had  held  a 
formal  meeting,  at  which  it  was  voted  to  send  their  arms,  accouter- 
ments,  and  uniforms  to  the  camp  of  General  Beauregard.  On 
learning  this,  a  few  days  after  the  occupation  of  the  city,  General 
Butler  sent  for  Captain  Burrows,  the  commander  of  the  company, 
who  confessed  the  fact.  The  general  then  directed  him  to  order 
his  company  to  leave  New  Orleans  within  twenty-four  hours ;  and 
declared  his  intention  to  arrest  and  confine  in  Fort  Jackson  any 
who  should  fail  to  obey  the  order.  The  violation  of  the  law  of 
neutrality  had  been  clear  and  indefensible.  These  men  had  enjoyed 
for  many  years  the  protection  of  the  United  States  government, 
under  which  they  acquired  wealth  and  distinction,  and  then  em- 
braced the  first  opportunity  that  had  offered  to  give  material  aid 
to  its  enemies.  Captain  Burrows  could  only  object  that  part  of 
the  company  had  been  absent  from  the  meeting,  and  it  would  be 
unfair  to  punish  the  innocent  with  the  guilty.  General  Butler  as- 
sented, and  ordered  those  of  the  company  who  had  not  partici- 
pated in  the  offense,  to  appear  before  him  with  their  arms  and 
uniforms,  the  rest  to  obey  the  previous  order. 

The  acting  British  consul,  Mr.  George  Coppell,  hastened  to  inter- 


358       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

pose.  He  could  not  deny  that  the  act  charged  against  his  country- 
men was  a  violation  of  the  law;  but  he  said  they  had  done  it  with  "no 
idea  of  wrong  or  harm."  He  enlarged  upon  the  inconvenience  it 
would  be  to  those  highly  respectable  gentlemen  to  leave  the  city, 
where  their  affairs  were  extensive  and  important.  In  fact,  it  would 
not  be  even  "possible"  for  some  of  them  to  leave  ;  and  if  General 
Butler  should  persist,  it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  consul  to  solemnly 
protest  against  the  "  verbal  order  of  questionable  legality,  the  en- 
forcement of  which  would  infringe  the  rights  of  British  subjects 
residing  in  New  Orleans." 

The  general  replied  by  recounting  the  facts  with  the  exactness  of 
a  lawyer.  "  These  people,"  he  added,  "  thought  it  of  consequence 
that  Beauregard  should  have-  sixty  more  uniforms  and  rifles.  I 
think  it  of  the  same  consequence  that  he  should  have  sixty  more 
of  these  faithless  men,  who  may  fill  them  if  they  choose.  I  intend 
this  order  to  be  strictly  enforced.  I  am  content  for  the  present  to 
suffer  open  enemies  to  remain  in  the  city  of  their  nativity ;  but  law- 
defying  and  treacherous  alien  enemies  shall  not.  I  welcome  all 
neutrals  and  foreigners  who  have  kept  aloof  from  these  troubles 
which  have  been  brought  upon  the  city,  and  will,  to  the  extent  of 
my  power,  protect  them  and  their  property.  They  shall  have  the 
same  hospitable  and  just  treatment  they  have  always  received  at 
the  hands  of  the  United  States  government.  They  will  see,  how- 
ever, for  themselves,  that  it  is  for  the  interest  of  all  to  have  the  un- 
worthy among  them  rooted  out ;  because  the  acts  of  such  bring  sus- 
picion upon  all.  All  the  facts  above  set  forth  can  easily  be  substan- 
tiated, and  indeed,  are  all  evasively  admitted  in  your  note  by  the 
very  apology  made  for  them.  That  apology  says,  that  these  men, 
when  they  took  this  action — sent  these  arms  and  munitions  of  war 
to  Beauregard — '  did  it  with  no  idea  of  wrong  or  harm.'  I  do  not 
understand  this.  Can  it  be  that  such  men,  of  age  to  enroll  themselves 
as  a  military  body,  did  not  know  that  it  was  wrong  to  supply  the 
enemies  of  the  United  States  with  arms  ?  If  so,  I  think  they  should 
be  absent  from  the  city  long  enough  to  learn  so  much  international 
law;  or  do  you  mean  to  say,  knowing  their  social  proclivities, 
and  the  lateness  of  the  hour  when  the  vote  was  taken,  therefore 
they  were  not  responsible  ?  There  is  another  difficulty,  however,  in 
those  people  taking  any  protection  under  the  British  flag.  The  com- 
pany received  a  charter  or  commission,  or  some  form  of  rebel  au- 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.        359 

thorization  from  the  governor  of  Louisiana,  and  one  of  them,  whom 
I  have  under  arrest,  accompanied  him  to  the  rebel  camp.  There  is 
still  another  difficulty.  I  am  informed  and  believe  that  a  majority 
of  them  have  made  declarations  of  their  intentions  to  become  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  supposed  Confederate  States, 
and  have  taken  the  proper  and  improper  oaths  of  allegiance  to 
effect  that  purpose."        o 

The  orcter  was  executed.  Every  member  of  the  company  (for 
none  of  them  could  produce  his  arms  or  uniform)  fled  from  the  city, 
except  the  captain  and  one  other.  These  two  found  themselves 
prisoners  at  Fort  Jackson.  Mr.  Coppell  related  the  case  to  Lord 
Lyons,  who  laid  it  before  Mr.  Seward.  The  secretary  of  state 
admitted  the  illegality  of  the  act  committed  by  the  British  Guard ; 
but,  in  effect,  recommended  Captain  Burrows  and  his  friend  to  the 
mercy  of  the  commanding  general,  and  advised  their  release.  Ac- 
cordingly, after  several  weeks'  detention,  they  were  set  at  liberty. 

General  Butler,  justly  offended  at  the  tone  and  substance  of  Mr. 
CoppelPs  remonstrance,  intimated  to  that  gentleman  that,  though 
be  signed  himself  "Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Acting  Consul,"  he  had 
exhibited  no  proof  of  his  right  to  that  honorable  designation.  "  The 
respect,"  said  General  Butler,  "  which  I  feel  for  that  government 
leads  me  to  err,  if  at  all,  upon  the  side  of  recognition  of  your  claims, 
and  those  of  its  officers ;  but  I  take  leave  to  call  your  attention  to 
the  fact  that  you  subscribed  yourself '  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Act- 
ing Consul,'  and  that  I  have  received  no  official  information  of  any 
right  you  may  have  so  to  act,  except  your  acts  alone,  and  pardon 
me  if  I  err  in  saying,  that  your  acts  in  that  capacity,  which  have 
come  to  my  knowledge,  have  not  been  of  such  character  as  to  induce 
the  belief  on  my  part,  that  you  rightfully  represent  that  noble  gov- 
ernment." 

It  happened  that  Mr.  Coppell  could  not  produce  the  regular 
documents.  As  he  continued  to  interfere  with  General  Butler's 
measures,  and  that  too,  in  the  style  of  a  resident  unfriendly  minister, 
the  general  had  the  pleasure  of  refusing  to  recognize  him,  and  be 
remained  without  official  character  until  he  could  procure  from 
Washington  the  necessary  proofs  of  his  appointment. 


360  GE1STEEAL   BUTLER   AUT)   THE   FOREIGN    CONSULS. 


Case  of  Charles  Heidsieck. 

This  individual,  it  appears,  was  the  head  of  the  great  French 
house  of  dealers  in  Heidsieck  champagne.  He  was  a  native  and 
citizen  of  France,  but  had  come  to  the  southern  states  to  look  after 
his  delinquent  creditors,  and  had  resided,  for  some  time,  at  Mobile. 
He  entered  his  name  upon  the  books  of  the  Dick  Keys  and  the 
Natchez,  steamboats  permitted  by  General  Butler  to  convey  pro- 
visions to  New  Orleans,  as  bar-tender ;  made  five  trips  in  that  dis- 
guise, and  brought  to  and  from  Mobile  a  very  large  quantity  of 
letters,  several  of  which,  containing  treasonable  information,  were 
sent  to  Washington  by  General  Butler.  As  Heidsieck  was  depart- 
ing for  Fort  Jackson,  he  called  on  his  consul  for  help.  "  I  have 
the  honor,"  he  wrote,  "  to  ask  you  to  see  what  you  have  to  do  for 
me  in  this  matter,  having  come  and  left  this  city  under  a  flag  of 
truce."  What  the  consul  concluded  he  had  to  do  for  him  we  shall 
see  in  a  moment.  After  several  months'  imprisonment  at  Fort 
Jackson  and  Fort  Pickens,  he  was  released  by  orders  from  Wash- 
ington. He  then  forwarded  to  the  government  a  memorial,  in  the 
French  manner,  asking  reparation  for  his  detention.  This  impu- 
dent claim  from  a  man  who  had  only  escaped  the  ignominious  death 
of  a  spy  by  the  clemency  of  the  government,  elicited  from  General 
Butler  an  amusing  narrative  of  the  case,  which  the  evidence  before 
me  at  this  moment  proves  to  be  true  in  every  particular. 

"  Let  us,"  remarks  the  general,  "  in  the  light  of  the  facts,  examine  Heid- 
sieck's  claims  and  pretensions.  Of  a  very  respectable  social  position,  he 
claims  to  have  engaged  as  a  bar-tender  on  the  steamer  'Dick  Keys,'  whose 
former  bar-tender  was  conveniently  sick,  for  the  purpose  and  object  of  get- 
ting his  letters  from  the  consulate  at  New  Orleans,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
making  money  by  the  sale  of  his  wines  on  board  the  boat  during  her  trips. 
Now,  a  bar-tender  at  the  South  is  one  of  the  most  menial  employments, 
and  is  usually,  on  board  steamers,  intrusted  to  a  negro  steward.  Is  it  likely 
that  Heidsieck,  without  a  controlling  motive,  would  make  one  voyage  from 
Mobile  to  New  Orleans  in  that  capacity?  Is  not  a  gentleman  disguised 
when  he  takes  upon  himself  such  an  employment  ?  Is  it  an  answer  to  say, 
that  his  full  name  was  on  the  shipping  articles,  and  by  that  he  was  to  bo 
recognized  when  '  bar-tender"1  was,  as  he  admits,  affixed  to  it  ?  If  we  had 
found  the  name  of  '  Augustus  Caesar,'  which  might  have  been  the  name  of 
the  forrr.'or  black  bar-tender  whose  place  Heidsieck  took,  upon  the  shipping 


GENEEAL  BUTLEE  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.       361 

articles,  should  we  have  looked  for  and  expected  to  find  the  Eoman  em- 
peror ? 

''The  motive  for  undertaking  this  menial  occupation,  as  Heidsieck  al- 
leges, was  to  get  his  letters  from  the  consulate.  "Why  not  send  for  them? 
If  the  military  authorities  would  not  let  them  go  with  his  messenger,  then 
he  had  no  right  to  come  in  disguise  and  fetch  them.  But  admit,  for  the 
sake  of  the  argument,  that  his  desire  to  get  his  correspondence  was  a  suffi- 
cient motive  for  Heidsieck  to  take  one  such  trip  as  bar-tender,  why  make 
five  during  a  space  of  more  than  two  months  ? 

"  To  this  he  answers  that  the  profits  of  the  sales  of  his  wines  as  bar-ten- 
der on  board  the  boat,  were  not  to  be  despised.  But  he  admits  that  the 
boat  could  and  did  carry  no  passengers.  To  whom  then  was  the  wine  to 
be  sold,  as  he  says  that  the  boat  was  kept  under  strict  surveillance.  *  *  * 
Besides  which,  he  admits  that  he  spent  his  time  between  trips  in  the  city 
of  New  Orleans.  Indeed,  what  need  of  a  bar-tender  on  board  of  that  boat 
at  all,  especially  one  who  was  to  be  paid  by  the  sale  of  wine  ?  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  the  crew  of  a  small  steamboat  at  the  South  drink  enough  of  even 
so  poor  a  wine  as  '  Heidsieck's  champagne,'  as  to  make  it  profitable  for  a 
gentleman  to  spend  his  time  selling  it  as  a  menial?  Again,  if  the  bar-ten- 
der of  the  steamer  '  Dick  Keys'  was  sick,  and  the  captain  was  willing  to 
make  such  a  bargain  for  such  a  bar-tender,  how  is  it  that  when  the  '  Dick 
Keys'  went  out  of  the  employment  of  carrying  flour  between  Mobile  and 
New  Orleans,  that  the  '  Natchez'  which  was  employed  in  her  stead,  should 
also  have  a  sick  bar-tender  and  a  captain  who  should  be  willing  to  make  so 
remarkable  a  contract,  as  to  give  passage,  board,  and  lodging  where  the 
cost  of  living  was  extremely  heavy,  to  gentlemen  to  sell  liquor  to  his  own 
crew,  as  he  could  have  no  other  customers  ?  Still  farther,  after  these  boats 
were  stopped  by  the  United  States  authorities,  because  of  the  corrupt  in- 
telligence conveyed  by  them,  Heidsieck  was  again  found  going  to  New  Or- 
leans, under  the  pretense  of  carrying  dispatches  to  the  French  consul 
there,  he  having  no  business  whatever  in  the  city.  "Why  not  send  the  dis- 
patches by  Mr.  Greenwood,  the  city  agent  ?  He  was  kind  enough  to  take 
Heidsieck,  dispatches  and  all,  upon  his  schooner  gratis ;  would  he  not  have 
taken  the  dispatches  alone? 

"  The  facts  with  regard  to  Heidsieck  may  be  stated  in  a  word.  I  learned 
that  intelligence  was  being  conveyed  to  New  Orleans  and  Mobile  for  the 
rebels.  I  believed  the  city  agent  to  be  trustworthy.  There  was  no  chan- 
nel except  the  employes  of  the  boat,  no  passengers  being  allowed.  I 
caused  an  inquiry  to  be  made,  and  found  Heidsieck  on  board  in  disguise, 
and  that  he  spent  all  his  time,  between  trips,  in  this  city.  Before  I  had 
the  facts  reported  to  me,  he  had  gone  to  Mobile  with  the  last  trip  of  the 
eteamer.  It  may  be  assumed  I  was  glad  to  see  him,  when  he  returned,  in 
his  true  character  of  'bearer  of  dispatches.'     I  arrested  him  as  a  spy — I 


362       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

confined  him  as  a  spy — I  should  have  tried  him  as  a  spy,  and  hanged  him 
upon  conviction  as  a  spy,  if  I  had  not  been  interfered  with  by  the  govern- 
ment at  Washington. 

u  He  had,  when  arrested,  a  canvas  wrapper,  of  the  size  of  a  peck  measure, 
firmly  bound  up  with  cords,  covering  letters  from  the  French,  Swiss,  Span- 
ish, Prussian,  and  Belgian  consuls,  also  a  great  number  of  letters  to  private 
persons,  mostly  rebels,  or  worse,  intermeddling  foreigners,  containing  con- 
traband intelligence.  A  portion  of  these  letters  were  forwarded  to  the 
honorable  secretary  of  state,  in  December  last,  by  me.  To  show  the  utter 
falsity  of  Heidsieck's  narrative,  let  me  advert  to  his  statement,  that  he  stole 
away  a  paper  which,  he  says,  '  I  recognized  as  the  envelope  of  my  dis- 
patches; the  envelope,  by  the  folds,  to  which  the  remnant  of  the  seals 
still  adhered,  which  could  alone  give  to  M.  De  Mejan  the  correct  idea  of 
the  bulk  of  the  dispatches.'  It  will  be  recollected  that  it  has  already  been 
stated  by  me  that  the  letters  were  inclosed  in  a  canvas  wrapper,  tied  up 
with  cord,  which  Heidsieck,  in  his  memorial,  represents  me  as  being  en- 
gaged for  some  minutes  in  '  cutting  and  breaking.'  How  then  could  any 
paper  show  the  size  of  the  package?  I  sent  Heidsieck  to  Fort  Jackson, 
which  was,  at  that  time,  the  only  military  prison  in  my  department,  and 
where  confinements  were  usually  made.  Immediately  after  his  arrest,  the 
French  consul  notified  me  that  he  had  referred  the  matter  to  his  minister 
at  Washington,  and  I  accordingly  sent  my  dispatch  to  the  secretary  of 
state,  and  rested  in  taking  measures  for  the  trial  until  I  received  instruc- 
tions from  the  government. 

"  A  number  of  French  residents  of  New  Orleans,  however,  petitioned 
me  as  an  act  of  grace  to  release  Heidsieck,  and  allow  him  to  go  to  Europe, 
to  remain  during  the  war.  I  finally  consented,  and  gave  orders  for  his 
release  upon  that  condition,  as  an  act  of  clemency.  For  this  order  his 
friends  were  very  grateful,  and  so  expressed  themselves  both  by  letter  and 
in  person.  This  parole  was  declined  by  Heidsieck,  although  I  supposed 
the  application  had  been  made  by  his  consent  and  his  procurement.  Per- 
haps, however,  this  refusal  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  stated  in  his  me- 
morial, that  the  French  consul,  two  days  afterward,  started  for  Washington 
*  on  my  account.' 

"  It  will  be  seen,  in  all  points,  Heidsieck  claims  that  all  suspicion  should 
be  diverted  from  himself  as  to  his  neutrality,  because  he  was  acting  in  con- 
cert with  the  Count  Mejan,  the  French  consul  at  New  Orleans ;  but  it  will 
not  escape  recollection  that  M.  Mejan's  own  propriety  of  conduct  and  neu- 
trality has,  by  subsequent  revelations,  been  shown  to  have  been  worse  than 
doubtful — the  repository  of  almost  a  half  million  of  specie  loaned  by  the 
Bank  of  New  Orleans  to  the  Confederate  government,  for  the  purpose  of 
purchasing  army  clothing,  and  receiving  a  commission  for  his  agency. 
Count  Mejan  has  been,  very  properly,  recalled  by  his  government,  and  can 


GENEKAL  BUTLEK  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.      363 

hardly,  by  his  character,  cover  the  suspected  acts  of  Heidsieck  traveling 
between  rebel  cities  in  the  guise  of  a  bar-tender. 

"  Heidsieck  was  removed,  with  the  other  prisoners,  to  Fort  Pickens,  in 
August,  because  I  was  informed  of  a  threatened  attack  by  the  rebels  upon 
Fort  Jackson,  and  I  did  not  deem  it  proper  that  prisoners  should  either  be 
exposed  to  the  hazard  of  combat,  or  embarrass  the  defenders  of  the  fort  by 
their  presence. 

"  Heidsieck's  complaint  as  to  his  treatment  during  his  confinement  must 
be  unfounded,  because  there  was  never  any  restriction,  save  in  the  matter 
of  intoxicating  liquors,  upon  prisoners  and  their  friends  furnishing  any 
and  everything  desired  by  them  for  comfort  or  convenience ;  and  his  own 
memorial  does  not  claim  that  any  representations  by  him,  or  any  other 
prisoner,  were  ever,  made  to  me  on  the  subject,  as  indeed  there  were  not. 

"  His  complaint,  that  he  was  obliged  to  '  cook  for  his  own  mess,'  will 
hardly  excite  much  sympathy.  I  am  unable  to  see  the  hardship  to  one  who 
has,  by  his  own  confession,  turned  bar-keeper  for  a  living,  cooking  his  own 
food. 

"  His  complaint  that  he  could  not  write  to  his  wife,  because  the  officer, 
admitted  by  him  to  be  'a  perfect  gentleman,'  who  was  to  examine  his  let- 
ter, was  too  young  to  be  trusted  with  the  delicate  revelations  of  a  husband 
to  his  wife,  who  was  three  thousand  miles  away,  is  too  absurd  for  com- 
ment. 

"  I  received  the  order  from  the  commanding  general  of  the  army,  to  re- 
lease Heidsieck  upon  his  giving  his  parole  not  to  visit  the  Confederate  States, 
which  was  transmitted  in  the  usual  course  of  business,  and  he  accepted  the 
condition,  which  only  differed  from  the  one  offered  by  me  in  this,  that  by 
mine  he  was  to  go  to  Europe. 

"He  now  desires  reparation  for  his  confinement.  Let  Heidsieck  be  or- 
dered back  into  confinement ;  let  a  court-martial  of  impartial  officers  at 
New  Orleans  be  ordered  to  try  him  as  a  spy,  with  a  competent  judge  advo- 
cate ;  and  if  he  is  acquitted,  I  pledge  myself  to  the  extent  of  my  private 
means,  to  make  good  to  him  all  he  has  suffered,  provided  his  government 
will  agree,  that  if  found  guilty,  he  shall  be  hanged,  as  he  ought  to  be,  with- 
out any  intervention  on  its  part. 

"  If  Heidsieck  had  not  been  taken  out  of  my  hands  by  the  action  of  my 
government,  I  should  have  ordered  him  before  a  court  for  trial,  and  I  be- 
lieve he  would  have  suffered  for  his  crimes  against  the  country  that  had 
given  him  the  protection  of  its  laws." 

So  much  for  Charles  Heidsieck,  bar-tender  and  dealer  in  cham- 
pagne. We  come  now  to  an  affair  that  made  more  noise  in  the 
world. 

16 


3G4-       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 


Seizure  of  $800,000  in  Silver. 

To  justify  the  seizure  of  this  mass  of  coin,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
prove  that  it  constituted  part  of  the  cash  capital  of  the  Confederate 
government,  or  that  it  was  secreted  for  the  purpose  of  defrauding 
the  creditors  of  the  Citizens'  Bank,  from  the  vaults  of  which  it  was 
so  suddenly  removed  before  the  occupation  of  the  city.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  show  that  there  existed  strong  grounds  of  suspicion 
with  regard  to  it.  The  silver  was  not  confiscated,  it  was  merely 
seized  and  held  for  adjudication.  The  rebel  government,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  had  not  been  content  merely  to  seize  and 
hold  the  coin  in  the  mint  and  sub-treasury  of  the  United  States ; 
but  had  appropriated  the  same  to  its  own  purposes.  The  subjects 
of  that  government  had  not  merely  postponed  the  payment  of  the 
two  or  three  hundred  millions  which  they  owed  northern  mer- 
chants and  manufacturers ;  but  had  first  repudiated  the  debts,  and 
then  proceeded  to  place  it  for  ever  beyond  their  power  to  pay  them ; 
to  say  nothing  of  the  universal  confiscation  of  property  in  the  South 
which  belonged  to  northern  men.  This  silver,  on  the  contrary, 
was  seized  and  detained,  merely  that  the  extremely  suspicious  cir- 
cumstances of  its  concealment  might  be  investigated. 

Let  me  remark,  first,  that  the  mysterious  transfer  of  the  silver, 
in  the  quiet  of  a  Sunday  morning,  from  the  Citizens'  Bank  to  the 
Dutch  consulate,  was  condemned,  at  the  time  of  the  transfer,  by 
the  True  Delta,  a  secession  paper;  and  condemned  on  grounds 
shown,  in  1863,  to  be  just.  "  If  we  are  correctly  informed,"  said  the 
True  Delta  of  April  26th,  "the  coin  which  has  taken  wings  from 
the  Citizens'  Bank  is  transferred  to  Dutch  hands  to  discharge  in- 
debtedness in  Holland  not  yet  for  some  time  due,  and  for  which  the 
bank  advancing  the  specie  is  no  more  responsible  than  is  any  other 
living  institution  in  this  place.  Were  it  otherwise,  however,  were 
the  debt  its  own,  we  can  not  see  the  propriety  at  a  time  like  this, 
to  deplete  its  vaults  to  anticipate  a  debt,  or  to  pay  a  foreign  cred- 
itor preferentially."  It  thus  appears  that  the  transaction,  though 
imperfectly  understood,  made  upon  the  honest  mind  of  John  Ma- 
ginnis,  editor  of  the  True  Delta,  precisely  the  same  impression  that 
it  made  upon  General  Butler. 

A  few  days   after  the  landing  of  the  troops,  a  negro  informed 


GENERAL   BUTLER   AND   THE    FOREIGN    CONSTJXS.  3(55 

Lieutenant  Kinsman  that  an  immense  number  of  kegs  of  silver  had 
been  taken  to  the  store  of  a  Frenchman  named  Conturie,  a  liquor 
dealer,  and  secreted  in  a  large  vault ;  in  testimony  whereof  the 
negro  produced  a  Bible  in  which  he  had  made  some  hieroglyphic 
entry  of  the  fact,  with  a  view^  to  its  being  communicated  to  the 
Union  general  w^hen  he  should  arrive.  Farther  inquiry  substantia- 
ting the  negro's  story,  General  Butler  sent  Captain  Shipley  of  the 
Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  with  a  file  of  six  or  eight  soldiers,  to  ex- 
amine the  office  of  M.  Conturie,  who  proved  to  be  the  consul  of  the 
Netherlands.  At  two  in  the  afternoon  of  May  10th,  Captain  Shipley 
presented  himself  at  the  consulate.  It  appeared  to  be  an  insurance 
office,  though  the  consular  flag  of  the  Netherlands  was  flying  over 
the  door.  M.  Conturie  was  found,  and  Captain  Shipley,  with 
marked  courtesy,  informed  him  of  the  object  of  his  visit,  adding, 
that  he  was  ordered  to  prevent  the  departure  of  person  or  property 
from  the  building.  M.  Conturie,  with  needless  vehemence,  and  in 
a  style  that  savored  of  the  dramatic,  said : 

"  I  am  the  consul  of  the  Netherlands.  This  is  the  office  of  my 
consulate.     I  protest  against  any  such  violation  of  it." 

He  solemnly  declared,  and  many  times  declared,  that  the  part  of 
the  building  occupied  by  him  contained  nothing  but  the  property 
belonging  or  appertaining  to  the  consulate,  or  to  himself  as  an 
individual.  He  positively  refused  to  allow  the  vault  or  the  office 
to  be  searched.  After  some  farther  conversation  with  Captain 
Shipley,  he  wrote  a  note  to  the  Count  Mejan,  consul-general  of 
France,  which  he  requested  might  be  sent  to  that  personage,  as  he 
wished  to  consult  writh  him.  Very  naturally ;  for  the  Count  Mejan 
was  more  deeply  involved  in  the  secretion  of  coin  than  M.  Conturie. 
Captain  Shipley  promised  to  send  the  note  to  the  French  consul, 
provided  it  was  approved  at  head-quarters.  To  head-quarters  he 
accordingly  repaired,  leaving  Conturie  a  prisoner  in  his  consulate. 

The  general  decided  that  M.  Conturie's  note  should  not  be  for- 
warded to  the  French  consul,  whom  the  affair  did  in  no  way  con- 
cern. Captain  Shipley  reappeared  at  the  Dutch  consulate,  com- 
municated his  intention  to  search  the  premises,  and  demanded  of 
Conturie  the  key  of  his  vault.     The  consul  refused  to  deliver  it. 

"  Then  I  shall  be  obliged  to  force  the  door,"  said  the  captain. 

"  With  regard  to  that,  you  will  do  as  you  please,"  said  Conturie, 
who  again  protested  against  the  violation  of  his  office  and  flag. 


366       GENEEAL  BUTLEE  AND  THE  F0EEIGN  CONSULS. 

As  Captain  Shipley  had  not  the  means  of  forcing  the  vault,  he 
was  again  compelled  to  return  to  head-quarters.  As  he  turned  to 
go,  the  consul  said : 

"  Sir,  am  I  to  understand  that  my  consular  office  is  taken  pos- 
session of,  and  myself  am  arrested  by  you ;  and  that,  too,  by  order 
of  Major-General  Butler  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Captain  Shipley. 

General  Butler,  upon  receiving  the  captain's  report,  sent  him 
back  to  the  consulate,  accompanied  by  Lieutenant  Kinsman,  of  his 
staff,  an  officer  peculiarly  well  fitted  for  extracting  a  key  from  a 
contumacious  consul — a  gentleman  perfectly  capable  of  the  suaviter 
in  modo,  but  equally  versed  in  the  fortiter  in  re.  To  the  consul, 
Lieutenant  Kinsman  politely  said : 

"  Sir,  I  wish  to  look  into  your  vault  ?" 

The  consul  replied :  "  It  contains  only  my  private  effects,  and 
the  property  of  the  consulate." 

Lieutenant  Kinsman :  "  Sir,  I  wish  to  look  into  your  vault. 
Give  me  the  key." 

Mr.  Conturie :  u  I  will  not." 

Lieutenant  Kinsman  to  officers :  "  Search  the  office.  Break 
open,  if  need  be,  the  doors  of  the  vault." 

Mr.  Conturie,  rising :  "  I,  Amedie  Conturie,  Consul  of  the  Nether- 
lands, protest  against  any  occupation  or  search  of  my  office ;  and 
this  I  do  in  the  name  of  my  government.  The  name  of  my  consu- 
late is  over  the  door,  and  my  flag  floats  over  my  head.  If  I  cede, 
it  is  to  force  alone." 

The  search  began.  Conturie  then  said,  it  would  be  of  no  use  to 
search  the  office,  for  the  key  of  the  vault  was  upon  his  own  person. 

Lieutenant  Kinsman  to  officers  :  "  Search  this  man." 

Captain  Shipley  and  Lieutenant  Whitcomb,  approached  "this  man" 
to  obey  the  order. 

Lieutenant  Kinsman  :  "  Search  the  fellow  thoroughly.  Strip 
him.  Take  off  his  coat,  his  stockings.  Search  even  the  soles  of 
his  shoes." 

M.  Conturie  :  "  You  call  me  fellow !  That  word  is  never  applied 
to  a  gentleman,  far  less  to  a  foreign  consul,  acting  in  his  consular 
capacity,  as  I  am  now.  I  ask  you  to  remember  that  you  used  that 
word." 

Lieutenant  Kinsman  :  "  Certainly ;  fellow  is  the  name  I  applied 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.      367 

to  you.  I  don't  care,  if  you  are  the  consul  of  Jerusalem ;  I  am 
going  to  look  into  your  vault." 

One  of  the  officers  took  a  key  from  the  coat-pocket  of  the  consul, 
which  proved  not  to  be  the  one  required.  Conturie  then  made  a 
slight  movement,  which  plainly  said,  that  the  pocket  to  look  into, 
was  a  certain  one  in  his  pantaloons.  The  silent  hint  was  taken. 
The  key  was  found.  The  vault  was  opened ;  and,  lo !  a  cord  and 
a  half  of  kegs  of  silver  coin,  marked  "  Hope  &  Co."  The  kegs 
were  one  hundred  and  sixty  in  number,  each  containing  five  thou- 
sand Mexican  dollars.  Many  other  articles  were  found  in  the 
vault — tin  boxes,  containing  bonds  of  the  cities  of  New  Orleans 
and  Mobile,  the  consul's  exequatur  and  other  papers  belonging  to 
him.  Certain  dies,  bank-plates,  and  engraving  tools  of  the  Citizens' 
Bank,  were  also  discovered.  A  subsequent  search  brought  to  light 
plates  of  the  Confederate  treasury  notes,  and  some  of  the  paper 
upon  which  the  notes  were  usually  printed.  Such  were  the  articles 
which  the  veracious  Conturie  declared  were  the  property  of  his  con- 
sulate and  of  himself. 

The  consul  was  released  early  in  the  evening.  The  next  day,  the 
silver,  three  wagon  loads,  and  all  the  other  articles  found  in  the 
vault,  were  removed  to  the  Mint,  and  the  office  was  vacated  by 
the  troops.  The  Confederate  plates  were  forwarded  to  Washing- 
ton, where  they  now  are  ;  the  rest  of  the  property  was  held,  subject 
to  the  disposal  of  the  government. 

M.  Conturie  immediately  drew  up  a  narrative  of  what  had  oc 
curred,  suppressing  his  declarations,  so  emphatic,  so  oft  repeated, 
that  the  vault  contained  nothing  but  his  own  and  consular  prop- 
erty, and  complaining  bitterly  of  Lieutenant  Kinsman's  strong 
language  and  stronger  measures.  This  he  sent  to  General  Butler, 
who  thus  replied : 

"  Your  communication  of  the  1  Oth  instant  is  received.  The 
nature  of  the  property  found  concealed  beneath  your  consular 
flag — the  specie,  dies,  and  plates  of  the  Citizens'  Bank  of  New 
Orleans — under  a  claim  that  it  was  private  property,  which  claim 
is  now  admitted  to  be  groundless,  shows  you  have  merited,  so 
far  as  I  can  judge,  the  treatment  you  have  received,  even  if  a 
little  rough.  Having  prostituted  your  flag  to  a  base  purpose,  you 
could  not  hope  to  have  it  respected  so  debased." 

May  12th. — Every  consul  in  New  Orleans,  except  the  Mexican,  to 


368       GENEEAL  BUTLEK  AND  THE  EOEEIGN  CONSULS. 

the  number  of  nineteen,  joined  in  protesting  against  "  the  indig- 
nity," "  the  severe  ill-usage,"  and  the  "  imprisonment  for  several 
hours,"  to  which  the  sacred  person  of  M.  Conturie  had  been  sub- 
jected. 

General  Butler  replied : 

"  Messes.  :  I  have  the  protest  which  you  have  thought  it  proper 
to  make  in  regard  to  the  action  of  my  officers  toward  the  consul  of 
the  Netherlands,  which  action  I  approve  and  sustain.  I  am  grieved 
that,  without  investigation  of  the  facts,  you,  Messrs.,  should  have 
thought  it  your  duty  to  take  action  in  the  matter.  The  fact  will 
appear  to  be,  and  easily  to  be  demonstrated  at  the  proper  time, 
that  the  flag  of  the  Netherlands  was  made  to  cover  and  conceal 
property  of  an  incorporated  company  of  Louisiana,  secreted  under 
it  from  the  operation  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  That  the 
supposed  fact  that  the  consul  had  under  the  flag  only  the  property 
of  Hope  &  Co.,  citizens  of  the  Netherlands,  is  untrue.  He  had 
other  property  which  could  not  by  law  be  his  property,  or  the 
property  of  Hope  &  Co. ;  of  this  I  have  abundant  proof  in  my  own 
hands.  No  person  can  excel  me  in  the  respect  which  I  shall  pay  to 
the  flags  of  all  nations,  and  to  the  consulate  authority,  even  while 
I  do  not  recognize  many  claims  made  under  them;  but  I  wish  it 
most  distinctly  understood  that,  in  order  to  be  respected,  the  con- 
sul, his  office,  and  the  use  of  his  flag,  must  each  and  all  be  respect 
able." 

M.  Conturie's  next  step  was,  of  course,  to  submit  the  case  to 
Mr.  Yan  Limburg,  the  minister  of  the  Netherlands  at  Washington, 
who,  in  turn,  laid  it  before  Mr.  Seward,  with  all  the  exaggerations 
of  Conturie's  own  narrative.  Mr.  Yan  Limburg  is  a  very  respect- 
able and  most*  learned  gentleman.  It  is  pleasing  to  notice  with 
what  joyful  alacrity  he  embraced  the  opportunity  of  writing  long 
and  erudite  dispatches,  such  as  has  rarely  fallen  to  the  lot  of  a 
minister  of  the  Netherlands  residing  at  Washington.  The  ponder- 
ous dispatches  with  which  this  worthy  gentleman  kept  Mr.  Seward 
busy  during  the  summer  of  1862,  are  they  not  attached  to  the 
president's  message,  from  page  625  to  page  652  ?  They  are  there, 
with  all  their  Latin  quotations  considerately  translated.  "  Justicia, 
regnorum  fundamentum  (justice  is  the  foundation  of  kingdoms)." 
To  describe  these  dispatches  it  is  only  necessary  to  say,  that  they 
are  precisely  such  as  Dominie  Samson  would  have  written,  had  he 


GENERAL  BUTLEE  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.      30  9 

been  minister  of  the  Netherlands  in  the  year  1862,  at  the  city  of 
Washington. 

Mr.  Seward,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Van  Limburg's  first  dispatch,  said, 
that  he  thought  the  consul  had  done  wrong,  but  not  so  wrong  as 
to  justify  the  roughness  of  Lieutenant  Kinsman.  "  It  appears," 
said  the  secretary  of  state,  "  beyond  dispute,  that  the  person  of  the 
consul  was  unnecessarily  and  rudely  searched ;  that  certain  papers, 
which  incontestably  were  archives  of  the  consulate,  were  seized 
and  removed,  and  that  they  are  still  withheld  from  him ;  and  that 
he  was  not  only  denied  the  privilege  of  conferring  with  a  friendly 
colleague,  but  was  addressed  in  very  discourteous  and  disrespectful 
language.  In  these  proceedings  the  military  agents  assumed  func- 
tions which  belonged  exclusively  to  the  department  of  state,  acting 
under  the  direction  of  the  president.  Their  conduct  was  a  violation 
of  the  law  of  nations,  and  of  the  comity  due  from  this  country  to  a 
friendly  foreign  state.  The  government  disapproves  of  these  pro- 
ceedings, and  also  the  sanction  which  was  given  to  them  by  Major- 
General  Butler,  and  expresses  its  regret  that  the  misconduct  thus 
censured  has  occurred." 

This  is  a  curious  passage.  It  appears  to  say,  that  only  the  sec- 
retary of  state,  acting  under  the  authority  of  the  president,  has  the 
right  to  put  his  hand  into  a  consul's  pocket,  and  take  out  a  key. 
Lieutenant  Kinsman,  one  day  in  Washington,  asked  Mr.  Seward 
what  was  the  next  thing  to  do  after  Conturie  refused  to  give 
up  the  key  ?  The  secretary  did  not  answer  the  question.  It  cer- 
tainly was  a  puzzler. 

Mr.  Seward  farther  informed  Mr. Van  Limburg,  that  the  president 
had  appointed  a  military  governor  of  Louisiana,  General  Shepley, 
"  who  has  been  instructed  to  pay  due  respect  to  all  consular  rights 
and  privileges,  and  a  commissioner  will  at  once  proceed  to  New 
Orleans  to  investigate  the  transaction  which  has  been  detailed,  and 
take  evidence  concerning  the  title  of  the  specie,  and  bonds,  and 
other  property  in  question,  with  a  view  to  a  disposition  of  the  same, 
according  to  international  law  and  justice.  You  are  invited  to 
designate  any  proper  person  to  join  such  commissioner,  and  attend 
his  investigations.  This  government  holds  itself  responsible  for 
the  money  and  the  bonds  in  question,  to  deliver  them  up  to  the 
consul,  or  to  Hope  &  Co.,  if  they  shall  appear  to  belong  to  them. 
The  consular  commission  and  exequatur,  together  with  all  the  pri- 


370       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

vate  papers,  will  be  immediately  returned  to  M.  Conturie,  and  ho 
will  be  allowed  to  resume,  and,  for  the  present,  exercise  his  official 
functions.  Should  the  facts,  when  ascertained,  justify  a  represent- 
ation to  you  of  misconduct  on  his  part,  it  will  in  due  time  be  made, 
with  the  confidence  that  the  subject  will  receive  just  consideration 
by  a  government  with  which  the  United  States  have  lived  in  amity 
for  so  many  years." 

Mr.  Van  Limburg  declined  joining  in  the  investigation.  The 
United  States,  he  said,  must  investigate  the  actions  of  its  servants. 
For  him  to  take  part  in  it,  would  be  to  acknowledge  that  General 
Butler's  conduct  was  possibly  right.  Besides,  no  seals  had  been 
placed  upon  the  kegs  and  boxes,  and  these  contained  the  very  evi- 
dence of  the  consul's  innocence.  "  It  is  for  Major-General  Butler 
to  prove  what  he  alleges.  Ei  incumbit  probatio  qui  dicit,  non  qui 
negat  (the  burden  of  the  proof  lies  upon  him  who  asserts,  not  upon 
him  who  denies),  says  the  Pandects.  It  is  not  for  me,  it  is  not  for 
our  consul,  to  prove  that  he  is  innocent.  Prima  facie  the  money 
delivered  by  the  '  Citizen's  Bank'  to  the  agent  of  the  house  of 
Hope  &  Co.,  to  be  transmitted  to  that  house,  or  to  be  deposited 
with  the  consul  of  the  Netherlands,  is  a  legitimate  money  legiti 
mately  transferred.  I  could  not,  without  having  received  the 
orders  of  the  government  of  the  king,  participate  in  any  manner  in 
an  investigation  which  would  tend  to  investigate  that  which  I  could 
not  put  in  doubt — the  good  faith  of  the  agent  of  the  house  of 
Hope  &  Co.,  the  moral  impossibility  that  that  honorable  house 
should  lend  itself  to  any  culpable  underplot,  the  good  faith  of  the 
consul  of  the  Netherlands.  Quilibet  prmsumiter  Justus  donee 
ywobitur  contrarium  (every  one  is  to  be  presumed  honest  until  the 
contrary  is  proven),  saith  the  ancient  universal  rule  of  justice." 
If  any  charge  is  made  against  the  consul,  we  will  investigate  that. 
And  if  General  Butler  is  guilty  of  the  acts  charged  by  Conturie, 
we  expect  his — in  fact — removal.  Meantime,  what  is  the  status  of 
M.  Conturie  ?     Is  he  consul,  or  is  he  not  ? 

Mr.  Seward  had  informed  the  minister,  that  M.  Conturie  would 
be  "  allowed"  to  resume  his  functions  at  once,  before  the  affair  had 
been  investigated.  The  minister  demanded  that  he  should  be 
"  invited^  to  do  so.  Mr.  Seward  replied :  "  I  have  no  objection  to 
your  writing  to  the  consul  that  it  is  the  president's  expectation 
that  he  will  resume  and  continue  in  the  discharge  of  his  official 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.       3  71 

functions  tratil  there  shall  be  farther  occasion  for  him  to  relinquish 
them."  The  minister  rejoined : — "  I  regret,  sir,  not  to  be  able  to 
accept  that  formula  without  submitting  it  to  the  judgment  of  the 
government  of  the  king."  The  minister  more  than  carried  his 
point ;  for  we  find  Mr.  Seward  writing  to  him,  soon  after,  that, 
"  simultaneously  icith  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Johnson  as  commis- 
s£o?*er,  Major-General  Butler  was  relieved  of  his  functions  as  military- 
governor  of  New  Orleans,  and  Brigadier-General  Shepley  was  ap- 
pointed military  governor  of  that  city ;  the  military  authorities 
were  at  the  same  time  directed  to  invite  M.  Conturie  to  resume 
his  consular  functions." 

True,  the  appointment  of  a  military  governor  was  a  mere  diplo- 
matic fiction,  which  did  not  in  the  slightest  degree  affect  General 
Butler's  position  or  power.  In  the  view  of  the  world,  however,  he 
was  both  censured  and  degraded ;  and  that  too,  upon  the  extrava- 
gant, unsupported  testimony  of  a  foreign  consul,  whose  conduct 
the  secretary  of  state  himself  had  censured.  The  public  was  not 
informed,  as  General  Butler  was  informed  by  a  member  of  the 
cabinet,  that  General  Shepley  was  selected  for  the  military  gover- 
norship, because  he  was  supposed  to  be  the  most  acceptable  officer 
to  General  Butler,  who  had  already  made  him  the  military  gover- 
nor of  the  city. 

To  those  who  believe  that  the  first  duty  of  a  government  is  to 
stand  by  its  faithful  servants,  this  mode  of  "  backing"  General  But- 
ler in  his  difficult  position,  will  not  commend  itself.  Whether  Gen- 
eral Butler's  course  had  been  right  or  wrong,  was  a  question  upon 
which  there  could  have  been  two  opinions;  and  Mr.  Reverdy 
Johnson  was  sent  to  New  Orleans  to  ascertain  which  of  those 
opinions  was  correct.  There  could  be  but  one  opinion  respecting 
the  conduct  of  the  consul  of  the  Netherlands,  who  had  lent  the  pro- 
tection of  his  flag  to  property  designed  to  support  the  credit  of 
the  armed  foes  of  the  power  to  which  he  was  accredited.  I  can 
not  conceive  what  there  was  in  the  position  of  the  Dutch  minister, 
or  of  the  power  he  represented,  to  justify  this  unquestioning  haste 
to  concede  everything  which  they  thought  proper  to  demand. 

The  commissioner  selected  to  go  to  New  Orleans,  and  investi- 
gate the  consular  imbroglio,  arrived  early  in  June,  and  was  ready 
to  begin  his  inquiries  on  the  tenth.  General  Butler  received  Mr. 
Johnson  with  every  courtesy,  invited  him  to  reside  at  head-quarters, 


872       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

and  did  all  that  in  him  lay  to  facilitate  his  investigations.  Mr# 
Johnson  was  equally  polite,  though  he  declined  the  general's  invita. 
tion  with  regard  to  his  residence.  He  spent  six  weeks  in  investi- 
gating the  several  cases  of  collision,  between  General  Butler  and 
the  consuls.  >l 

It  appeared  that  on  the  24th  of  February,  1862,  the  Citizens' 
Bank  of  ISTew  Orleans  had  conceived  the  idea  of  suddenly  getting 
rid  of  a  great  part  of  its  coin.  With  regard  to  the  eight  hundred 
thousand  dollars  deposited  in  the  vault  of  M.  Conturie,  the  follow- 
ing resolutions  were  shown  to  Mr.  Johnson  on  the  books  of  the 
bank  : 


"  Whereas,  the  present  rate  of  exchange  on  Europe  would  entail  a  ruinous 
loss  in  this  bank  for  such  suras  as  are  due  semi-annually  in  Amsterdam  for 
the  interest  on  the  state  bonds. 

"Be  it  therefore  resolved,  That  the  President  be  and  is  hereby  authorized 
to  make  a  special  deposit  of  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  ($800,000)  in 
Mexican  dollars  in  the  hands  of  Messrs.  Hope  &  Co.,  of  Amsterdam,  Holland, 
agents  of  the  bond-holders  in  Europe,  through  their  authorized  agent,  Ed- 
mund J.  Forstall,  Esq.,  for  the  purpose  of  providing  for  the  interest  on  said 
bonds. 

uBe  it  further  resolved,  That  such  portions  of  the  above  sum  as  may  be  re- 
quired from  time  to  time  to  pay  the  interest  accruing  on  the  state  bonds 
shall  be  so  applied  by  Messrs.  Hope  &  Co.,  provided,  however,  that  the  bank 
shall  have  the  option  of  redeeming  an  equivalent  amount  in  coin  by  approved 
sterling  exchange  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  agents  of  Messrs.  Hope  &  Co. ; 
and  provided  farther,  that  in  the  event  of  the  blockade  of  this  port  not  be- 
ing raised  in  time  to  allow  of  the  shipment  of  the  said  coin,  then  the  said 
Edmund  J.  Forstall  will  arrange  with  Messrs.  Hope  &  Co.  for  the  necessa- 
ry advances  to  protect  the  credit  of  the  state  and  of  the  bank  until  such 
time  as  the  coin  can  go  forward  to  liquidate  said  debt ;  but  no  commission 
shall  be  allowed  for  such  shipment  of  coin  or  any  other  expenses,  except 
those  actually  incurred ;  and  on  the  resumption  of  specie  payment  by  this 
bank  this  trust  to  cease  and  the  balance  of  coin  to  be  returned  to  the  bank." 

The  papers  farther  showed,  that  on  the  12th  of  April,  the  agent 
of  Messrs.  Hope  &  Co.,  "  with  a  view  to  their  better  security  in 
such  times  of  excitement,  deemed  it  his  duty  to  withdraw  the  said 
sum  of  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars,  already  marked  and  pre- 
pared for  shipment,  say,  one  hundred  and  sixty  kegs,  Hope  &  Co., 
containing  five  thousand  dollars  each,  and  to  place  the  same  under 


GEXEEAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.       373 

the  protection  of  the  consul  of  the  Netherlands,  Amadie  Conturie, 
Esq.,  for  which  he  held  his  receipt." 

It  also  appeared,  that  two  days  after  the  removal  of  this  large 
sum,  the  bank  sold  other  coin  amounting  to  seven  hundred  and  six- 
teen thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars,  to  the  French  bank- 
ers, Messrs.  Dupasseur  &  Co.,  which  they  paid  for  in  drafts  upon 
bankers  in  Paris  and  Havre.  This  coin  was  deposited  in  the  French 
consulate,  where  it  was  seized  by  General  Butler,  and  where,  for 
the  moment,  we  will  leave  it. 

Now,  what  did  these  strange  transactions  mean  ?  The  paper  case 
was  plain  enough,  and  Mr.  Johnson  thought  it  his  duty  to  decide  ac- 
cording to  the  papers,  and  give  up  all  the  coin,  and  all  the  articles 
found  with  it,  except  the  plates  of  the  Confederate  treasury  notes. 
But  the  decision,  though  it  satisfied  the  secretary  of  state,  does  not 
even  appease  the  curiosity  of  a  disinterested  reader.  Surely  there 
was  ground  for  suspicion  here.  The  attempted  transfer  of  so  large 
an  amount  of  coin  to  Europe,  from  the  chief  city  of  the  rebel  gov- 
ernment, at  a  time  when  all  legitimate  commerce  had  ceased,  was 
certainly  a  matter  demanding  the  attention  of  the  commanding 
general. 

Mr.  For st all,  the  New  Orleans  agent  of  Hope  &  Co.,  in  a  letter 
to  that  eminent  house,  written  three  days  after  the  seizure  of  the 
coin,  gives  a  history  of  the  affair : 


"New  Orleans,  May  13,  1862. 

"  Gentlemen  : — On  1st  March  last  T  wrote  Messrs.  Baring  Brothers  &  Co. 
as  follows : 

"  '  Should  there  be  a  necessity,  I  shall  place  under  the  protection  of  the 
respective  consuls  all  bonds  and  papers  belonging  to  you,  Messrs.  Hope  & 
Co.,  and  other  friends.  I  shall  try  and  protect  the  cash  assets  of  the  two 
banks  whose  capitals  have  been  furnished  by  Europe.' 

"  The  great  apprehension  at  that  time,  in  the  event  of  the  fall  of  New 
Orleans,  was  not  the  action  of  the  federal  government,  which,  until  then, 
on  similar  events,  had  left  private  property  undisturbed,  but  the  destruction 
of  property  and  sacking  of  the  banks  by  the  rabble  out  of  a  mixed  popula- 
tion of  nearly  two  hundred  thousand,  pending  the  consequent  delays  of  an 
abrupt  and  violent  change  of  government ;  and  the  event  proved  that  such 
apprehension  was  not  idle,  for  after  the  destruction  and  robbery  of  an  im- 
mense amount  of  property  on  our  wharves  and  some  of  our  front  stores 
and  warehouses,  a  general  plunder  of  the  city  would  have  taken  place  by 


374       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

the  rabble  after  the  retreat  of  the  Confederate  troops,  but  for  the  armed 
interference,  night  and  day,  of  the  French  and  foreign  brigades  for  nearly 
six  days,  when  the  federal  troops  took  charge  of  the  city  with  a  sufficient 
force  to  maintain  order. 

"  The  position  of  the  Citizens'  Bank  on  the  24th  February  last,  as  per 
inclosed  report  of  the  board  of  currency,  was  as  follows : 

CASH    RESPONSIBILITIES. 

"Circulation, $2,084,380 


"Individual  deposits,  returnable  in  gold  to  depositors  up  to 
September  16,  1861,  when  the  banks  were  ordered  by  the 
government  of  the  Confederacy  to  suspend  specie  payment, 
say  about 1,200,000 

"  Deposits  in  Confederate  notes,  and  returnable  in  Confeder- 
ates on  hand 4,354,755 

"  Total $5,554,755 

CASH  ASSETS. 

"  Gold  and  silver $4,025,932 


"  The  bond-holders  you  represent4  yet  hold  bonds  of  the  Citizens'  Bank  for 
$4,430,666.66.  Deeply  impressed  with  the  danger  threatening  New  Or- 
leans after  the  fall  of  the  Tennessee  forts,  and  of  the  disastrous  consequen- 
ces that  might  follow  its  capture,  with  so  heavy  an  amount  of  gold  and 
silver  centering  in  the  vaults  of  our  banks,  and  a  rabble  which  for  a  time, 
however  short,  might  be  uncontrollable,  and  considering  the  interest  of 
your  bond-holders  in  as  much  danger  as  that  of  the  stockholders,  I  deemed 
it  my  duty  to  call  upon  Mr.  Denegre,  so  far  back  as  the  middle  of  February 
last,  urging  him  to  prepare  for  the  worst,  and  then  used  every  exertion  to 
induce  the  president  to  dispose  of  his  coin  at  once  in  the  following  manner, 
to  wit : 

"  1st.  To  pay  in  full  the  circulation  of  the  bank,  amounting  on 
24th  February  last  to  about $2,084,380 

"2d.  To  pay  the  depositors  up  to  the  16th  September  last, 
when  the  bank  suspended  specie  payment,  and  who  had  left 
their  deposits,  which  Mr.  Denegre  said  would  require  about      1,200,000 


$3,284,380 


"  This  would  have  reduced  the  cash  assets  of  the  bank  to  about  $800,000 
in  silver,  without  any  responsibility  save  to  the  holders  of  the  bonds,  which, 


GENERAL  BUTLER   AND   THE   FOREIGN   CONSULS.  375 

as  things  have  turned  out,  would  have  been  a  most  enviable  position,  with 
its  large  and  well-protected  'portefeuille,'  including  a  very  large  surplus, 
and  its  valuable  banking  privileges  unimpaired,  ready  for  active  operations 
on  the  reopening  of  trade.  Unfortunately,  this  course  did  not  meet  with 
the  views  of  Mr.  Denegre,  but  finding  that  he  had  coin  on  hand  to  meet 
the  circulation  and  deposits  of  the  bank,  and  a  surplus  of  about  $800,000 
in  silver,  he  proposed  to  place  in  my  hands,  on  your  account,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  meeting  the  interest  on  the  bonds  as  maturing,  the  said  sum  of 
$800,000,  which,  he  said,  would  otherwise  remain  dormant  until  a  resump- 
tion of  business,  whilst,  so  used,  it  would  sustain  the  credit  of  the  bank  in 
Europe,  by  showing  that,  even  if  the  war  lasted  another  year,  and  under 
fill  the  difficulties  of  the  present  times,  it  had  the  means  of  paying  the  in- 
terest on  its  bonds  as  maturing,  and  had  provided  for  the  same  in  kind. 
Of  course,  consultation  with  you  was  out  of  the  question,  and  I  had  to  re- 
fer to  your  power  of  attorney,  at  the  time  when  you  considered  the  interest 
of  the  bond-holders  you  represent  jeoparded,  to  guide  me  in  the  present 
instance ;  and,  after  mature  consideration,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  was  my  duty  to  accept  the  deposit  in  your  behalf,  tendered  by  the  Citi- 
zens' Bank,  as  advised  in  my  letter  of  the  1st  April  last,  copy  of  which  is 
inclosed. 

"  And  now  allow  me  to  refer  you  to  the  inclosed  copy  of  a  letter  which  I 
addressed  Major-General  Butler  on  the  11th  instant,  and  which  was  handed 
him  personally  by  my  friend,  Kendal  Hunt,  Esq.,  at  10  o'clock  a.  m.  It 
contained  a  plain  statement  of  facts,  and  a  demand  for  the  $800,000  forci- 
bly taken  from  the  vaults  of  the  consul  of  the  Netherlands.  I  have  no 
answer  as  yet,  and  I  may  be  arrested  at  any  moment,  as  he  said  he  could 
see  fraud  in  every  part  of  the  document.  We  continue  under  the  rule  of 
martial  law. 

"  It  may  be  well  to  remark  here  that  when  M.  Conturie  learned  that  the 
French  consul  could  not  accommodate  him,  he  hired  the  old  vaults  of  the 
Orleans  Bank,  on  Canal  street,  and  the  same  square  as  the  Citizens'  Bank, 
the  front  being  occupied  by  an  insurance  company,  whose  president  used 
the  front  vault  for  his  papers  and  books.  When  the  money  was  brought, 
Mr.  Denegre,  who  was  laboring  under  the  idea  of  a  run  upon  the  banks  by 
the  rabble,  having  received  an  anonymous  letter  to  that  effect,  fancying,  it 
appears,  that  the  best  hiding-place  for  the  steel-plates  of  the  bank  was 
those  same  vaults,  sent  them  there,  attaching  no  other  importance  to  this 
matter  than  that  of  protecting  these  plates,  which,  had  they  fallen  in  bad 
hands,  might  have  given  a  good  deal  of  trouble  to  the  bank  and  public,  and 
caused  heavy  losses.-  These  plates,  for  $5  and  $10,  I  believe,  engraved  and 
prepared  before  the  secession,  are  in  accordance  with  the  charter  of  the 
Citizens'  Bank  and  under  the  authority  of  the  state  of  Louisiana.  This  is 
the  property,  I  understand,  alluded  to  by  General  Butler  in  his  answer  to 


076       GENEBAL  BUTLEE  AND  THE  FOEEIGN  CONSULS. 

the  protest  of  the  foreign  consuls,  and  which  no  consul  should  have  cover- 
ed. Eeally  and  truly,  I  do  not  believe  M.  Conturie  knew  anything  about 
it.  As  for  my  part,  I  did  not.  In  the  whole  of  this  matter  M.  Conturie 
has  shown  all  the  energy  and  dignity  that  could  be  desired  from  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  nation.    I  am,  respectfully, 

"EDM.   J.    FOESTALL. 

"  Messrs.  Hope  &  Co.,  Amsterdam." 

It  thus  appears  that  the  solicitude  professed  by  the  bank  for 
the  interests  of  Hope  &  Co.,  was  not  shared  by  the  agent  of  Hope 
&  Co.,  who  strongly  advised  another  disposition  of  the  silver,  and 
accepted  it  with  reluctance  and  doubt.  It  also  appears  that  the 
office  claimed  by  Conturie  as  the  consulate  of  the  Netherlands,  was 
nothing  but  a  vault,  hired  by  him  for  the  sole  purpose  of  hiding  the 
coin.  Mr.  Forstall's  letter  farther  shows,  that  the  explanation  of 
the  transfer  of  the  coin,  which  Mr.  Johnson  read  upon  the  books 
of  the  bank,  was  a  fiction. 

I  believe  this  is  all  the  light  I  am  able  to  throw  upon  the  trans- 
action. One  more  fact,  however,  should  be  stated.  It  was  not 
true,  as  the  True  Delta  intimated,  that  the  Citizens'  Bank  had  no 
particular  interest  in  sustaining  the  credit  of  the  state  bonds. 
Those  bonds  bore  the  indorsement  of  the  bank,  and  constituted  the 
basis  of  its  capital.  The  explanation  given  by  the  editor  of  the 
True  Delta,  of  the  transfer  of  the  coin,  may,  however,  be  the  correct 
one.  The  Citizens'  Bank,  probably,  deemed  it  more  important  to 
have  a  powerful  friend  in  Europe  than  to  secure  its  creditors  at 
home.  If  this  is  the  true  view,  then  justice  and  patriotism  appear 
to  have  required  that  the  silver  should  have  been  replaced  in  the 
vault  of  the  bank,  not  restored  to  the  agent  of  Hope  &  Co.  The 
money  having  been  consigned  to  Europe,  the  bank  has  since  gone 
into  liquidation. 

In  the  same  spirit,  Mr.  Johnson  decided  upon  the  coin  deposit- 
ed with  the  French  consul  by  the  same  bank. 

"The  bank."  he  says  in  his  report,  "  in  addition  to  the  deposit  of  $800,000 
with  the  agent  of  Messrs.  Hope  &  Co.,  needed  other  credits  in  Europe. 
Their  principal  business  was  the  dealing  in  foreign  exchange,  and,  to  enable 
them  to  do  this,  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  large  credit  abroad.  To  effect 
this  object  they  made  this  negotiation  with  Messrs.  Dupasseur  &  Co.,  known 
to  be  perfectly  responsible  merchants  of  New  Orleans,  to  wit :  to  purchase 
from  them  bills  at  certain  rates  on  Paris  for  the  amount  of  $716,196,  and 


GENEBAL  BUTLEE  AND  THE  FOEEIGN  CONSULS.       377 

to  pay  for  the  same  in  coin.  The  bills  wore  not  to  be  accepted  until  the 
drawees  were  advised  of  the  shipment  of  the  coin  by  Dupasseur  &  Co. 
The  bills  were  drawn,  delivered  to  the  bank,  and  the  coin  handed  over  to 
Count  Mejan,  the  French  consul,  to  be  retained  until  shipped.  They  were 
remitted  by  the  bank  to  their  correspondents  abroad  for  acceptance,  but 
have  not  been  accepted  because  the  coin  has  not  been  sent  on. 

"  Things  remained  in  this  condition  when  Major-General  Butler  requested 
the  consul  to  retain  the  coin,  which  he  has  ever  since  done. 

"  On  these  facts  the  only  question  is,  have  the  United  States  a  right  to 
the  fund?  That  the  transaction  was  one  of  perfect  good  faith  is  evident 
from  the  depositions  referred  to.  It  was  a  mere  business  matter,  in  which 
the  parties  had  a  clear  right  to  engage.  That  the  bank  at  the  time  owned 
the  coin  was  not  denied.  ISFor  was  it  questioned  that  the  agreement  was 
entered  into  and  was  being  carried  out  when  the  major-general  intervened. 
The  United  States  can  have  no  interest  in  the  coin,  except  upon  the  ground 
of  forfeiture,  and  for  that  there  was  not  at  the  time,  nor  is  there  now,  the 
slightest  pretense.  If  it  be  alleged,  as  a  matter  of  suspicion  (the  proof  is 
all  the  other  way),  that  the  purpose  of  the  bank  was  to  place  so  much  of 
its  funds  beyond  the  control  of  the  United  States,  that,  if  true,  would  be  no 
cause  of  forfeiture,  there  being  no  law,  state  or  congressional,  to  prohibit 
it.  If  it  be  alleged,  that  the  purpose  was  to  place  the  fund  in  Europe  for 
the  advantage  of  the  rebels,  the  answer  is,  there  is  not  only  no  proof  of  the 
fact,  but  the  proof  actually  before  me  wholly  conflicts  with  it." 

This  is  Mr.  Johnson's  explanation  of  a  transaction  which,  to  in- 
experienced minds,  certainly  wears  the  appearance  of  being  ficti- 
tious, or  worse.  Perhaps  some  light  may  be  thrown  upon  it  by 
the  relation  of  a  later  affair  in  which  the  consul  of  France  was  en- 
gaged. 

Detection  and  Removal  of  the  French  Consul. 

In  September,  1862,  Mr.  Sandford,  our  minister  at  Brussels, 
wrote  home  that  the  Confederate  agents  in  Europe  were  seriously 
embarrassed  by  the  non-arrival  of  a  large  amount  of  coin  from  New 
Orleans.  Notes  had  been  renewed ;  purveyors  of  cloth  could  not 
be  paid ;  and  Confederate  affairs  generally  were  at  a  dead  lock. 
"  But,"  he  added,  "  assurances  are  now  given  that  the  money  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  French  consul,  and  would  be  shortly  received." 

A  copy  of  this  interesting  letter  was  forwarded  to  General  But- 
ler, with  directions  to  investigate.  General  Butler  has  a  knack  at 
investigating,  and  he  performed  this  pleasing  duty  with  an  energy, 


S78  GENERAL   BUTLER   AND   THE   FOREIGN   CONSULS. 

skill,  promptitude,  and  success  rarely  equaled.  His  report  upon 
the  subject  was  so  irresistibly  conclusive,  that  the  French  govern- 
ment felt  compelled  to  recall  a  too  assiduous,  an  imprudently  faith- 
ful servant.  I  can  not  do  the  reader  a  better  service  than  by  trans- 
cribing this  report.  The  supporting  documents  must  necessarily 
be  omitted,  but  to  show  their  nature,  I  retain  General  Butler's  refer- 
ences to  them. 

"  Head-qttaetees,  Department  of  the  Gtjle, 
"  New  Orleans,  Md.  13,  1862v 
''  To  Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War : 

"  Sir  : — I  received  the  communication  of  the  war  department  inclosing  a 
copy  of  a  letter  from  the  state  department,  directing  my  attention  to  the 
statement  made  by  Mr.  Sandford,  our  minister  resident  at  Brussels,  a  copy 
of  which  I  inclose  for  the  better  understanding  of  the  present  communica- 
tion. In  obedience  to  its  directions  I  set  about  making  inquiries  through 
my  secret  police,  and  finding  it  a  matter  of  very  grave  import  as  affecting 
the  relations  of  the  French  consul  here,  I  undertook  a  personal  examination 
of  the  subject.  The  facts  as  substantiated  by  the  documentary  and  other 
testimony,  hereto  appended,  are  substantially  these : 

"  The  firm  of  Ed.  Gautherin  &  Co.,  composed  of  Ed.  Gantlierin  and  Al- 
fred and  Jules  Lemore,  doing  business  in  New  Orleans,  was  also  concerned 
in  a  house  at  Havre,  S.  A.  Lemore  &  Co.  Jules  and  Alfred  Lemore,  the 
partners  in  New  Orleans,  were  also  partners  in  that  house.  Gautherin  & 
Co.  were  at  first  employed  in  buying  tobacco  for  the  French  government, 
afterward  they  were  concerned  in  shipping  cotton  in  joint  account.  They 
represent  themselves  to  be  agents  of  Baron  Villers,  the  contractor  for 
French  army  clothing, 

"  On  the  29th  day  of  July,  1861,  as  will  appear  from  the  copy  of  a  con- 
tract with  the  Confederate  government,  herewith  inclosed,  and  marked  X, 
the  original  of  which  is  in  my  possession,  Gautherin  &  Co.  agreed  to  fur- 
nish the  Confederates  with  a  large  amount  of  cloths  for  uniforms,  which 
are  the  cloths  spoken  of  in  the  communication  of  Mr.  Sandford.  About  the 
first  of  April,  of  this  year,  a  cargo  of  the  goods  was  shipped  to  Havana,  and 
from  thence  to  Matamoras,  under  charge  of  the  senior  partner  of  the  house 
of  Edward  Gautherin  &  Co.,  now  in  Europe. 

"That  cloth  was  smuggled  across  to  Brownsville,  and  delivered  to  Cap- 
tain Shankey,  quartermaster .  and  agent  of  the  Confederate  government. 
The  original  invoice  and  receipt  are  hereto  annexed,  marked  E  and  F.  Be- 
tween the  14th  and  the  24th  of  April,  the  day  the  fleet  passed  the  forts,  Mr. 
J.  B.  D.  De  Bow,  produce  loan-agent  of  the  Confederate  States,  made  ap- 
plication to  the  '  Bank  of  Yew  Orleans'  for  a  loan  of  four  hundred  and  five 


GEXEEAL   BTTTLEE   AND   THE   FOEEIGN   CONSULS.  379 

thousand  dollars  in  coin  without  interest,  as  will  appear  by  the  communica- 
tion hereto  annexed,  marked  0.  This  proposition  was  acceded  to  by  the 
bank,  upon  a  pledge,  made  by  Payne,  Huntington  &  Co.,  the4  junior  partner 
of  which  firm  was  president  of  the  bank,  of  cotton  to  be  delivered  on  the 
plantations  in  Louisiana  and  Mississippi.  The  contract  is  hereto  annexed, 
and  marked  D. 

"  This  transaction  was  not  entered  into  in  good  faith,  as  is  confessed  by 
the  testimony  of  the  acting  president,  Mr.  Davis,  taken  from  his  own  lips, 
in  short  hand,  a  copy  of  which  is  hereto  annexed,  marked  O. 

"But  the  transaction  was  a  contrivance  by  which  the  specie  might  ~be  got 
out  of  the  bank.  Specie  to  this  amount  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
French  consul  with  his  full  knowledge  of  the  intent  of  the  transaction,  and 
a  receipt  was  given  by  him  to  hold  it  in  trust  for  the  Bank  of  New  Orleans. 
At  the  same  time,  a  pretended  sale  of  the  remainder  of  the  specie  in  bank, 
amounting  to  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  sterling,  was  made  by  the 
bank,  and  that  sum  was  also  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  French  consul.* 
These  two  sums,  amounting  to  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars,  made  sub- 
stantially the  whole  specie  capital  of  the  bank.  This  is  shown  by  the  con- 
fession of  the  only  director  of  the  bank  who  has  not  run  away  into  the 
Confederacy,  Mr.  Harroll,  a  copy  of  whose  statement  is  hereto  annexed, 
marked  K. 

"  Matters  stood  in  this  condition  at  the  time  the  city  of  New  Orleans  was 
taken  possession  of  by  us.  Upon  my  assurance  to  the  bank,  that  if  they 
would  return  their  specie,  they  should  be  protected,  the  pretended  sale  for 
sterling  exchange  was  annulled,  and  the  French  consul  sent  back  the  money, 
and  the  bank  received  into  its  vaults  four  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

"In  regard  to  the  four  hundred  and  five  thousand  dollars,  the  French 
consul  became  uneasy,  and  moved  upon  the  bank  to  get  at  his  receipt  given 
to  the  Bank  of  New  Orleans,  and  gave  a  new  receipt,  running  directly  to 
Gautherin  &  Co. 

"  At  this  point  of  time,  I  ordered  all  the  specie  in  the  hands  of  the  French 
consul  to  be  sequestered  and  held  until  affairs  could  be  investigated. 

"Reverdy  Johnson,  on  commission  of  the  state  department,  came  down 
here,  and  without  investigation,  and  without  knowing  anything  of  the  trans- 
actions, and  without  even  inquiring  of  me  about  them,  made  such  repre- 
sentations to  the  department  of  state,  that  I  was  ordered  to  release  the 
French  consul  from  his  promise  not  to  deliver  up  any  specie  held  in  his 
hands  without  informing  me,  which  order  I  obeyed. 

"  In  the  mean  time,  Gautherin  &  Co.  had  succeeded  in  delivering  their 
goods  to  the  Confederate  States  agents,  and  called  upon  the  bank  to  get 
their  money,  which  had  been  deposited  in  the  hands  of  the  French  consul. 

*  1  need  hardly  call  the  readers  attention  to  the  similarity  of  this  "contrivance'"  forgetting  rid 
of  specie  to  that  employed  hy  the  Citizens1  Bank. 


380       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

This  delivery  had  not  been  completed  at  Brownsville  until  22d  June;  and 
some  time  in  the  last  of  July,  the  bank,  through  its  officers,  gave  up  its  re- 
ceipts, which  were  destroyed,  and  took  a  receipt  which  was  dated  back  to 
the  16th  of  April,  directly  from  Gautherin  &  Co..  so  that  the  French  con- 
sul's name  would  not  appear  in  the  transaction. 

"  These  facts  are  established  by  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Belly,  the  cashier 
of  the  bank,  which  is  written  out  and  signed,  and  sworn  to  by  him,  a  copy 
of  which  is  annexed,  marked  O  P.  The  money  was  sent  on  board  the 
Spanish  man-of-war  Blasco  de  G-aray,  which  left  this  port  in  September 
last,  and  has  now  returned,  and  has  been  carried  to  Havana,  and  thence 
shipped  to  New  York.  All  this  has  been  done  with  the  knowledge  and 
consent  of  the  consul  of  France. 

"  You  will  see  by  the  letter  of  Mr.  Sandford  the  difficulties  which  the 
Confederates  had  of  getting  more  goods,  on  account  of  the  non-payment  of 
the  first  bill.  Another  cargo  is  now  in  Havana,  not  to  be  delivered,  of 
course,  until  the  first  is  paid  for.  By  this  wrongful,  illegal,  and  inimical 
interference  of  the  French  consul,  aided  by  the  Spanish  ship-of-war,  the 
money  has  gone  forward,  so  that  the  holders  of  the  goods  will  be  ready  to 
ship  the  remainder  for  the  benefit  of  the  Confederate  army.  A  more  fla- 
grant violation  of  international  law  and  national  courtesy  on  the  part  of  a 
consular  agent,  can  not  be  imagined. 

"  Before  I  proceeded  upon  the  investigation,  not  knowing  the  extent  to 
which  the  French  consul  was  implicated,  I  called  upon  him,  and  after  show- 
ing him  a  letter  from  the  commanding  general  of  the  army,  in  which  I  was 
directed  to  cultivate  the  most  friendly  relations  with  him,  I  read  him  a  let- 
ter from  our  minister  at  Brussels,  and  told  him  I  should  desire  his  friendly 
aid  in  making  the  investigation,  and  then  asked  him  if  he  knew  anything 
of  the  transaction  spoken  of  in  the  letter  of  Mr.  Sandford,  or  if  any  money 
had  been  deposited  with  him  for  any  such  purpose.  He  in  the  most  em- 
phatic manner  assured  me  that  he  knew  nothing  of  any  such  transaction. 
He  only  knew  that  there  was  a  French  house  of  the  name  of  Gautherin  & 
Co.  in  New  Orleans,  and  declared  that.no  money  had  ever  been  deposited 
with  him  for  any  such  purpose.  I  then  informed  him  that  it  would  become 
my  duty  to  arrest  and  question  Alfred  and  Jules  Lemore,  the  resident  part- 
ners of  the  French  house.  I  did  so,  and  they  denied  all  such  transaction, 
or  refused  to  answer,  lest  they  should  '  criminate  themselves.'  But,  in  the 
mean  time,  I  had  possessed  myself  of  their  books  and  papers,  and  found  two 
accounts,  translations  of  which  I  inclose,  marked  B  A,  which  show  the 
whole  transaction ;  and  which  also  show  that  one  Kossuth,  a  clerk  of  the 
French  consul,  whose  name  appears  in  the  account,  received  $528.92  as  a 
fee  for  keeping  the  money  within  the  French  consulate ;  that  a  douceur  w<ts 
given  to  Madame  Mejan  for  the  purpose  of  ''carrying  out  the  affair  well  f 
that  a  lawyer  was  paid  to  deal  with  the  consul  in  this  matter ;  and  these 


GENERAL    BTTTLER    AND   THE   FOREIGN   CONSULS.  381 

papers,  with  the  testimony  of  the  president,  director  and  cashier  of  the 
bank,  put  the  guilt  of  Count  Mejan  beyond  question.  I  beg  leave  to  call 
your  attention  to  this  extraordinary  amount  of  expenses  ($19,939.40). 

"  I  need  not  suggest  to  the  department  that  it  is  its  duty  at  once  and 
peremptorily  to  revoke  the  exequatur  of  Count  Mejan.  He  has  connived  at 
the  delivery  of  army  clothing  of  the  Confederate  army,  since  the  occupation 
of  New  Orleans  by  the  federal  forces ;  he  has  taken  away  gold  from  the 
bank,  nearly  half  a  million  of  its  specie,  to  aid  the  Confederates ;  acts  which 
could  not  have  been  done  without  his  aid,  and  that  of  the  Spanish  ship-of- 
war  Blasco  de  Garay. 

"  I  leave  the  consul  to  the  government  at  Washington.  I  will  take  care 
sufficiently  to  punish  the  other  alien  enemies  and  domestic  traitors  con- 
cerned in  this  business  whom  I  have  here. 

"  Upon  examination  of  the  parties,  I  found  that  a  box  containing  all  the 
papers  relating  to  the  transaction,  which  were  not  kept  with  the  com- 
mercial papers  of  the  house  of  Gautherin  &  Co.,  was  deposited  with  the 
French  consul.  I  wrote  to  him,  very  politely,  to  have  it  delivered  to  me 
for  the  purpose  of  justice.  I  have  again  written  him  more  peremptorily, 
and  he  has  refused  to  do  so,  still  concealing  the  proofs  of  guilt.  If  pro- 
duced, I  believe  it  will  show  him  to  be  one  of  the  five  parties  concerned  in 
the  illegal  traffic  mentioned  in  the  account  of  expenses ;  and  however  that 
may  be,  he  now  covers  the  criminal  as  he  lately  concealed  the  booty,  which 
he,  his  wife  and  his  clerk  so  largely  shared. 

"  I  beg  leave  here  to  call  the  attention  of  the  department  to  these  trans- 
actions, as  showing  that  I  was  clearly  right  when  I  ordered  the  specie 
deposits  in  the  hands  of  Count  Mejan  to  be  sequestered.  His  flag  has  been 
made  to  cover  all  manner  of  illegal  and  hostile  transactions,  and  the  booty 
arising  therefrom.  I  am  glad  that  my  action  here  has  been  vindicated  to 
the  world,  and  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  will  be  able  to 
demand  of  the  French  government  a  recall  of  its  hostile  agent. 
M I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Benj.  F.  Butlee,  Major- General  commanding" 

Tliis  it  is  to  "  investigate"  ail  affair.  I  know  not  which  most  to 
admire,  the  vigor  and  tact  displayed  in  procuring  the  evidence,  or 
the  clearness  with  which  the  results  of  the  inquiry  are  stated. 

General  Butler  alludes  several  times  to  the  bill  of  "  charges  and 
expenses"  found  in  the  books  of  Gautherin  &  Co.  It  is  an  ex- 
tremely curious  document.     The  following  are  the  items : 

"  June  29.  By  payment  to  Ed.  Gautherin  and  Jules  Lemore  to 
go  to  Richmond,  $481. 


382       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

"  July  20.  By  remittance  to  them  at  Richmond,  $450.  French 
consul  loan,  $50. 

"March  1.  Expenses  of  E.  Gautherin  &  Co.  and  Jules  Lernore 
for  passage  from  ISTew  Orleans  to  New  York  and  Havre,  $700. 

u  May  27.  Voyage  of  Ch.  Privelland  to  Richmond  and  back, 
$543.  Maintain  to  Richmond,  five  weeks,  $475.50.  Expenses  of 
L.  Grotairs  at  Antwerp,  $9.98.    Consul  fees  and  certificates,  $36.20. 

"August  10.  Present  to  Madame  Mejan  {wife  of  French  con- 
sul)^ to  close  the  affair  well,  $153.  Colonel  Lemat,  as  a  bribe  for  the 
affair  to  start  well,  $2,500.  V.  Pritert,  for  the  bill  of  Alexander, 
according  to  the  agreement  of  the  five  interested  parties,  $5,000. 
Kossuth  (clerk  of  French  consul),  one-eighth  per  cent,  of  $405,000, 
deposited  in  consulate,  $528.20.  Payment  to  Fuelle  for  getting 
the  receipt,  $500.  Robert  (lawyer),  for  proceedings  with  authori- 
ties and  consul,  $500. 

"August  31.  Ch.  Briolland,  expenses  to  Matamoras,  $3,790. 
Jules  Lemore,  expenses  from  January  1,  to  September  1,  1862, 
$1,089.71.  Payment  of  cabs  and  transport  of  nine  boxes  of  gold, 
$60.  Expenses  of  telegraph  and  postage,  $150.  Insurance  on  gold  in 
consulate,  six  months,  one-half  per  cent,  on  $405,000,  $2,025.  River 
insurance  on  Blasco  de  Garay,  one-eighth  per  cent,  on  $250,000, 
$312.50.  Marine  insurance,  from  here  to  New  York,  on  specie, 
$585.26.  E.  Gautherin,  expenses  paid  in  sum,  $4,058.50.  Ferran 
&  Duprerris,  Havana,  as  a  memorandum,  $4,058.50." 

Total,  $19,939.40  ! ! 

So  much  for  the  French  consul.  I  can  not  resist  the  impression 
that  the  same  methods  of  investigation,  applied  to  other  cases, 
would  have  yielded  results  strikingly  similar. 

Seiziure  of  3,205  Hogsheads  of  Sugar. 

This  sugar  was  seized  on  the  ground  that  it  was  designed  as  a 
support  to  the  credit  of  the  Confederate  government  in  Europe,  and 
that  the  ostensible  owner  was  only  an  agent  of  a  company  of  Euro- 
pean merchants,  formed  chiefly  for  that  purpose.  Three  of  the  for- 
eign consuls  objected  to  the  seizure,  averring  that  the  sugar  had 
been  bought  for  purposes  "  strictly  mercantile,"  and  requesting  its 
restoration  ;  and  if  this  were  done,  they  expressed  a  willingness  to 
"  waive  all  past  proceedings,"  and  let  the  matter  rest.  General 
Butler  made  a  spirited  reply  to  their  communication  • 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.       383 

"  Head-quarters,  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
"  New  Orleans,  June  12,  1862. 

"  Gentlemen  : — In  the  matter  of  the  sugars  in  possession  of  Mr.  Covas, 
who  is  the  only  party  known  to  the  United  States  authorities,  I  have  ex- 
amined with  care  the  statement  you  have  sent  me.  I  had  information,  the 
sources  of  which  you  will  not  expect  me  to  disclose,  that  Mr.  Covas  had 
heeu  engaged  in  buying  Confederate  notes,  giving  for  them  sterling  ex- 
change, thus  transferring  abroad  the  credit  of  the  states  in  the  rebellion, 
and  enabling  these  bills  of  credit  to  be  converted  into  bullion  to  be  used 
there,  as  it  has  been,  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  arms  and  munitions  of 
war.  That  Mr.  Covas  was  one  of,  and  the  agent  of,  an  association  or  com- 
pany of  Greek  merchants  residing  here,  in  London,  and  in  Havana,  who  had 
set  apart  a  large  fund  for  this  enterprise.  That  these  Confederate  notes,  so 
purchased  by  Mr.  Covas,  had  been  used  in  the  purchase  of  sugars  and  cot- 
ton, of  which  the  sugars  in  question,  in  value  almost  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  are  a  part. 

"  I  directed  Mr.  Covas  to  hold  these  sugars  until  this  matter  could  be  in- 
vestigated. 

"  I  am  satisfied  of  the  substantial  truth  of  this  information.  Mr.  Covas' 
own  books,  will  show  the  important  facts  that  he  sold  sterling  exchange 
for  Confederate  treasury  notes,  and  then  bought  these  sugars  with  the 
notes. 

"  Now  this  is  claimed  to  be  '  strictly  mercantile.' 

"  It  will  not  be  denied  that  the  sugars  were  intended  for  a  foreign  mar- 
ket. 

"But  the  government  of  the  United  States  had  said,  that  with  the 
port  of  New  Orleans  there  should  be  no  '  strictly  mercantile'  transac- 
tions. 

11  It  would  not  be  contended  for  a  moment,  that  the  exchanging  of  specie 
for  Confederate  treasury  notes,  and  sending  the  specie  to  Europe,  to  enable 
the  rebels  to  buy  arms  and  munitions  of  war  there,  were  not  a  breach  of 
the  blockade,  as  well  as  a  violation  of  the  neutrality  laws  and  the  proclama- 
tion of  their  majesties,  the  queen  of  Great  Britain  and  the  emperor  of 
France.  What  distinguishes  the  two  cases,  save  that  drawing  the  sterling 
bills  is  a  more  safe  and  convenient  way  of  eluding  the  laws,  than  sending 
bullion  in  specie,  and  thus  assisting  the  rebellion  in  the  point  of  its  utmost 
need? 

"  It  will  be  claimed,  that  to  assist  the  rebellion  was  not  the  motive. 

"  Granted  '  causa  argumentV 

"  It  was  done  from  the  desire  of  gain,  as  doubtless  all  the  violations  of 
neutrality  have  been  done  by  aliens  during  this  war — a  motive  which  is  not 
sanctifying  to  acts  by  a  foreigner,  which,  if  done  by  a  subject,  would  be 
treason,  or  a  high  misdemeanor. 


384  GENERAL   BUTLER  AND  THE    FOREIGN   CONSULS. 

"  My  proclamation  of  May  1  assured  respect  to  all  persons  and  property 
that  were  respectable.  It  was  not  an  amnesty  to  murderers,  thieves,  and 
criminals  of  deeper  dye  or  less  heinousness,  nor*  a  mantle  to  cover  the  prop- 
erty of  those  aiders  of  the  rebellion,  whether  citizens  or  aliens,  whom  1 
might  find  here.  If  numbers  of  the  foreign  residents  here  have  been  en- 
gaged in  aiding  the  rebellion,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  from  a  spirit  of 
gain,  and  they  now  find  themselves  objects  of  watchful  supervision  by  ';he 
authorities  of  the  United  States,  they  will  console  themselves  with  the  re- 
flection, that  they  are  only  getting  the  '  bitter  with  the  sweet.'  Nay,  more, 
if  honest  and  quiet  foreign  citizens  find  themselves  the  objects  of  suspicion 
to,  and  even  their  honest  acts  subjects  of  investigation  by  the  authorities 
of  the  United  States,  to  their  inconvenience,  they  will,  upon  reflection, 
blame  only  the  over-rapacious  and  greedy  of  their  own  fellow-citizens,  who 
have,  by  their  aid  to  rebellion,  brought  distrust  and  suspicion  over  all. 
Wishing  to  treat  you,  gentlemen,  with  every  respect,  I  have  set  forth  at 
length,  some  of  the  reasons  which  have  prompted  my  action.  There  is  one 
phrase  in  your  letter  which  I  do  not  understand,  and  can  not  permit  to  pass 
without  calling  attention  to  it.  You  say,  '  the  undersigned  are  disposed  to 
waive  all  past  proceedings,'  etc. 

"  What '  proceedings'  have  you,  or  either  of  you,  to  '  waive,'  if  you  do  feel 
disposed  so  to  do  ?  What  right  have  you  in  the  matter  ?  What  authority 
is  vested  in  you  by  the  laws  of  nations,  or  of  this  country,  which  gives  you 
the  power  to  use  such  language  to  the  representative  of  the  United  States, 
in  a  quasi  official  communication  ? 

"  Commercial  agents  merely  of  a  subordinate  class,  consuls,  have  no 
power  to  waive  or  condone  any  proceedings,  past  or  present,  of  the  govern- 
ment under  whose  protection  they  are  permitted  to  reside  so  long  as  they 
behave  well.  If  I  have  committed  any  wrong  to  Mr.  Oovas,  you  have  no 
power  to  l  waive'  or  pardon  the  penalty,  or  prevent  his  having  redress.  If 
he  has  committed  any  wrong  to  the  United  States,  you  have  still  less  power 
to  shield  him  from  punishment. 

"I  take  leave  to  suggest,  as  a  possible  explanation  of  this  sentence,  that 
you  have  been  so  long  dealing  with  a  rebel  Confederation,  which  has  been 
supplicating  you  to  make  such  representations  to  the  governments  whoso 
subjects  you  are,  as  would  induce  your  sovereigns  to  aid  it  in  its  traitorous 
designs,  that  you  have  become  rusty  in  the  language  proper  to  be  used  in 
representing  the  claims  of  your  fellow-citizens  to  the  consideration  of 
a  great  and  powerful  government,  entitled  to  equal  respect  with  your 
own. 

"  In  order  to  prevent  all  misconception,  and  that  for  the  future  you  gen- 
tlemen may  know  exactly  the  position  upon  which  I  act  in  regard  to  foreign- 
ers resident  here,  permit  me  to  explain  to  you,  that  I  think  a  foreign  resident 
here  has  not  one  right  more  than  an  American  citizen,  but  at  leas',  one 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.       385 

right  less ;  i.  e.,  that  of  meddling  or  interfering,  by  discussion,  vote,  or  other- 
wise, with  the  affairs  of  the  government. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  myself  your  obedient  servant, 

"B.  F.  Butlee, 

"  Major-  General  Commanding. 
"  Messrs.  Geoege  Coppell,  claiming  to  be  H.  B.  M.  Acting  Consul ;  A. 
Mejan,  French  Consul ;  M.  W.  Benachi,  Greek  Consul." 

The  matter  was  referred  to  Mr.  Reverdy  Johnson.  He  decided 
in  favor  of  the  claimants,  and  the  sugar  was  consequently  restored. 
He  found  the  transactions  to  have  been  strictly  mercantile.  "  There 
is  not,"  he  reported,  "  a  scintilla  of  evidence  that  they  ever  belonged 
to  such  an  association,  if  there  was  one  (of  which,  however,  there 
is  no  proof),  but,  on  the  contrary,  their  conduct  in  negotiating  their 
bills,  as  exhibited  in  the  many  depositions  annexed,  is  absolutely  in- 
consistent with  such  a  connection.  The  seizure  by  the  major-gen- 
eral was  evidently  made  under  a  misapprehension.  His  conduct  in 
this  particular,  as  in  those  of  the  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars 
and  seven  hundred  and  sixteen  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
six  dollars,  is  to  be  referred  to  the  patriotic  zeal  which  governs 
him,  to  the  circumstances  encircling  his  command  at  the  time  so 
well  calculated  to  awaken  suspicion,  and  to  an  ardent  desire  to 
punish,  to  the  extent  of  his  supposed  power,  all  who  had  con- 
tributed, or  were  contributing,  to  the  aid  of  a  rebellion,  the  most 
unjustifiable    and  wicked  that   insane  or  bad  men  were  ever  en- 


In  giving  up  the  sugar,  General  Butler  politely  congratulated 
the  owners  that,  owing  to  the  rapid  enhancement  of  the  value  of 
the  article,  in  consequence  of  the  opening  of  the  port,  its  detention 
would  prove  a  great  gain  to  them. 

Case  of  Kennedy  &  Co. 

Steamboat-hunting  was  a  favorite  pastime  with  the  Union  sol- 
diers during  the  first  weeks  of  their  occupation  of  the  city.  The 
rebels  had  burnt  a  large  number  of  their  steamboats,  but  many  had 
been  hidden  in  bayous  and  swamps  supposed  to  be  impenetrable  to 
the  unaccustomed  Yankee.  The  men  had  rare  adventures  in  hunt- 
ing this  valuable  game,  some  of  which  may  hereafter  be  related.  On 
board  one  of  the  steamers  found,  named  the  Fox,  captured  by  Gen 


386  GENERAL   BUTLEK   AND   THE   FOIiEIGN   CONSFLS. 

eral  McMillan,  a  mail-bag  was  discovered,  the  contents  of  which 
brought  several  of  the  people  of  New  Orleans  into  trouble — Messrs. 
Kennedy  &  Co.,  cotton  merchants,  among  the  number. 

General  Butler  briefly  relates  the  case :  "  Kennedy  &  Co.  were 
merchants  doing  business  in  New  Orleans,  the  members  of  which 
firm  were  citizens  of  the  United  States.  They  shipped  cotton 
(bought  at  Vicksburg  and  brought  to  New  Orleans)  from  a  bayou 
on  the  coast,  whence  steamers  were  accustomed  to  run  the  block- 
ade to  Havana,  in  defiance  of  the  law  and  the  president's  proclama- 
tion, and  under  the  farther  agreement  with  the  Confederate  author- 
ties  here,  that  a  given  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  their  cargoes  should 
be  returned  in  arms  and  munitions  of  war  for  the  use  of  the  rebels. 

"  Without  such  an  agreement  no  cotton  could  be  shipped  from 
New  Orleans,  and  this  was  publicly  known ;  and  the  fact  of  knowl- 
edge that  a  permit  for  the  vessel  to  ship  cotton  could  only  be  got 
on  such  terms  was  not  denied  at  the  hearing. 

"  The  cotton  was  sold  in  Havana,  and  the  net  proceeds  invested 
in  a  draft  (first,  second,  and  third  of  exchange)  dated  April  30th, 
1862,  payable  to  the  London  agent  of  the  house  of  Kennedy  &  Co., 
and  the  first  and  second  sent  forward  to  London,  and  the  third, 
with  account  sales  and  vouchers,  forwarded  to  the  firm  here  through 
an  illicit  mail  on  board  the  steamer  'Fox,'  likewise  engaged  in 
carrying  unlawful  merchandise  and  an  illicit  mail  between  Havana 
and  the  rebel  states. 

"  The  third  of  exchange  and  papers  were  captured  by  the  army 
of  the  United  States,  on  the  10th  day  of  May,  on  board  the  'Fox,' 
flagrante  delictu,  surrounded  by  the  rebel  arms  and  munitions,  con- 
cealed in  a  bayou  leading  out  of  Barataria  bay,  attempting  to  land 
her  contraband  mails  and  scarcely  less  destructive  arms  and  muni- 
tions to  be  sent  through  the  bayous  and  swamps  to  the  enemy. 

"During  all  this  time,  P.  H.  Kennedy  &  Co.  have  not  accepted 
the  amnesty  proffered  by  the  proclamation  of  the  commanding  gen- 
eral, but  preferred  to  remain  within  its  terms  rebels  and  enemies. 

"  Upon  this  state  of  facts,  the'  commanding  general  called  upon 
Kennedy  &  Co.  to  pay  the  amount  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  cot- 
ton (the  third  of  exchange  of  the  draft),  which,  with  the  docu- 
ments relating  to  this  unlawful  transaction  he  had  captured,  as  a 
proper  forfeiture  to  the  government  under  the  facts  above  stated ; 
which  was  done." 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.       387 

General  Butler  voluntarily  submitted  this  case  to  the  judgment 
of  Mr.  Johnson,  who  decided  against  the  forfeiture,  on  the  follow- 
ing grounds : 

1.  That  there  was  no  capture  of  the  property  or  its  representa- 
tive while  actually  running  the  blockade. 

2.  That  there  was  no  personal  delection  in  Kennedy  &  Co.  in 
the  acts  done  by  them,  which  could  render  them  subject  to  for- 
feiture. 

3.  That  the  blockade  being  raised  by  the  proclamation  of  the 
president  before  the  capture  Of  the  draft,  all  delection  on  account 
of  the  transaction  was  purged. 

These  points  he  argued  precisely  as  he  would  have  argued  them 
had  the  rebellion  been  a  legitimate  war  between  two  foreign  na- 
tions ;  quoting  such  authorities  as  Yattel,  Grotius,  Puffendorf,  and 
Wheaton,  who  wrote  on  international  law.  General  Butler  yielded 
to  the  decision,  and  paid  back  the  money  ($8,641) ;  but  he  could  not 
refrain  from  reviewing  Mr.  Johnson's  argument.  Addressing  Mr. 
Johnson  himself,  he  remarked  that,  "  as  applied  to  this  transaction, 
the  citations  and  arguments  derived  from  elementary  writers  upon 
the  law  of  nations,  are  of  no  value.  This  is  not  the  case  of  a  resi- 
dent subject  of  a  foreign  state  attempting  to  elude  the  vigilance  of 
a  blockade  by  a  foreign  power  of  a  port  of  a  third  nation.  The 
rule  that  the  successful  running  of  the  blockade,  or  a  subsequent 
raising  of  the  blockade  purges  the  transaction  so  far  as  punishment 
for  personal  delection  is  concerned,  is  too  familiar  to  need  citation, 
at  least  by  a  lawyer  to  a  lawyer.  It  would  be  desirable  to  see 
some  citations  to  show  that  there  was  no  personal  delection  in  the 
.transaction  under  consideration. 

"  A  traitorous  commercial  house  directly  engage  in  the  treason- 
able work  of  aiding  a  rebellion  against  the  government,  by  enter- 
ing into  a  trade  the  direct  effect  of  which  is  to  furnish  the  rebels 
with  arms  and  munitions.  To  do  this  they  intentionally  violate  the 
revenue  laws,  the  postal  laws  of  their  country,  as  well  as  the  laws 
prohibiting  trade  with  foreign  countries  from  this  port,  and  are 
caught  in  the  act,  and  fined  only  the  amount  of  the  proceeds  of 
their  illegal  and  treasonable  transaction. 

"  Their  lives,  by  every  law,  were  forfeit  to  the  country  of  their 
allegiance. 

"  The  representative  of  that  country  takes  a  comparatively  small 
17 


388  GENERAL   BUTLEE    AND   THE   F0EEIGN   CONSULS. 

fine  from  them  and  a  commissioner  of  that  same  country  refunds  it 
because  of  its  impropriety. 

"  Grotius,  Puffendorf,  Yattel,  and  Wheaton  will  be  searched,  it 
is  believed,  in  vain,  for  a  precedent  for  such  action.  Why  cite 
international  law  to  govern  a  transaction  between  the  rebellious 
traitor  and  his  own  government  ?  Around  the  state  of  Louisiana 
the  government  had  placed  the  impassable  barrier  of  law,  covering 
each  and  every  subject,  saying  to  him,  from  that  state  no  cotton 
should  be  shipped  and  no  arms  imported,  and  there  no  mails  or  let- 
ters should  be  delivered. 

"To  warn  off  foreigners,  to  prevent  bad  men  of  our  own  citizens 
violating  that  law,  the  government  had  placed  ships.  Now,  what- 
ever may  be  the  law  relating  to  the  intruding  foreigner,  can  it  be 
said  for  a  moment  that  the  fact  that  a  traitor  has  successfully  elud- 
ed the  vigilance  of  the  government,  that  that  very  success  purges 
the  crime,  which  might  never  have  been  criminal  but  for  that  suc- 
cess. 

"  The  fine  will  be  restored,  because  stare  decisus^  but  the  guilty 
party  ought  to  be  and  will  be  punished. 

"  A  course  of  treatment  of  rebels  which  should  have  such  results, 
would  not  only  be  '  rose-water,'  but  diluted  '  rose-water.' 

"  The  other  reason  given  for  the  decision  that  the  blockade  had 
been  raised,  is  a  mistake  in  point  of  fact,  both  in  the  date  and  the  place 
of  capture.  The  capture  was  not  made  of  a  vessel  running  into 
the  port  of  New  Orleans  when  the  blockade  was  raised,  but  from 
one  of  those  lagoons  where,  in  former  times,  Lafitte  the  pirate  car- 
ried on  a  hardly  more  atrocious  business. 

"  Something  was  said  at  the  hearing  that  this  money  was  in- 
tended by  Kennedy  &  Co.  for  northern  creditors. 

"  Sending  it  to  England  does  not  seem  the  best  evidence  of  that 
mtention. 

"  But,  of  course,  no  such  consideration  could  enter  into  the  de- 
cision. •  I  have  reviewed  this  decision  at  some  length,  because  it 
seems  to  me  that  it  offers  a  premium  for  treasonable  acts  to  traitors 
in  the  Confederate  States.  It  says,  in  substance,  '  Violate  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  as  well  as  you  can,  send  abroad  all  the  pro- 
duce of  the  Confederate  States  you  can,  to  be  converted  into  arms 
for  the  rebellion  ;  you  only  take  the  risk  of  losing  in  transitu;  and 
as  the  profits  are  four-fold  you  can  afford  to  do  so.     But  it  is  sol 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.       8b9 

emnly  decided  that  in  all  this  there  is  no  '•personal  detection,"1  for 
which  you  can  or  ought  to  be  punished  even  by  a  fine,  and  if  you 
are,  the  fine  shall  be  returned.'  " 

Mr.  Johnson  replied  to  this  review  in  a  voluminous  and  ably 
written  argument,  which  was  handed  to  General  Butler  three  hours 
before  its  author  sailed  for  the  North.  There  was,  therefore,  no 
opportunity  for  reply.  The  chief  point  of  Mr.  Johnson's  new 
argument  was,  that  there  was  no  evidence  that  Kennedy  &  Co. 
had  agreed  to  invest  any  portion  of  the  proceeds  of  the  cotton  in 
arms  and  munitions  of  war. .  They  denied  that  they  had  either  en- 
gaged to  do  this,  or  had  done  it.  This  defense,  since  by  Confed- 
erate law  no  cotton  could  be  exported  on  any  other  terms,  was 
equivalent  to  saying  that  Kennedy  &  Co.  had  been  faithless  to 
both  governments,  and  were  liable  to  two  actions  for  treason  in- 
stead of  one. 

Case  of  Avendano  Brothers. 

The  capture  of  the  steamer  Fox  led  to  the  discovery  of  the 
complicity  of  this  firm  also  with  the  rebellion.  The  case  was  so 
clear  and  aggravated,  that  the  house  never  thought  of  complaining 
of  General  Butler's  conduct  with  regard  to  it,  until  the  decisions 
of  Mr.  Reverdy  Johnson  gave  them  hopes  of  a  successful  appeal  to 
the  government  at  Washington.  General  Butler  being  called  upon 
for  a  statement  of  the  facts,  gave  them  with  such  cogency  as  to 
silence  the  Spanish  minister. 

"The  house  of  Avendano  Brothers,"  he  wrote,  in  October,  "has  been 
established  in  ISTew  Orleans  so  long  that  its  members  have  become  an  inte- 
gral part  of  the  population,  in  interest,  in  feeling,  and  in  social  ties.  Be- 
fore the  breaking  out  of  this  rebellion,  its  members  never  thought  of  seek- 
ing the  protection  of  Spain.  But  since  this  rebellion  all  has  changed,  and 
now  the  Spanish  consul  claims  that  persons  thirty  years  of  age,  born  of 
Spanish  parents,  who  have  lived  here  from  their  birtb,  and  their  ancestors 
before  them,  are  still  Spanish  subjects,  and  is  issuing  certificates  of  nation- 
ality accordingly;  so  that  this  city  has  become  almost  entirely  depopulated 
as  to  citizens,  except  of  free  persons  of  color,  who  singularly  claim  protec- 
tion of  our  government  where  so  little  has  been  heretofore  afforded  them. 

"  The  house  of  Avendano  Brothers  has  been  largely  engaged  in  running 
cotton  through  the  blockade,  and  importing  arms  and  munitions  of  war. 

"  Xo  cotton  was  allowed  by  the  Confederates  to  be  shipped  unless  arms 


390       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

and  munitions  of  war  were  returned  in  the  proportion  of  one-half.  Aven- 
dano  Brothers  shipped  largely  under  this  permission,  and  have  heen  en- 
gaged in  breaking  every  law  of  neutrality  and  national  hospitality  that  can 
be  well  conceived. 

"Somewhere  about  the  10th  of  May  I  captured  the  Confederate  steamer 
Fox,  which  had  been  seized  by  the  Confederates  from  her  Union  owners 
and  turned  into  their  service,  and  employed  in  running  the  blockade  (she 
made  three  trips  thus).  She  had  on  board  a  cargo  of  arms,  powder,  lead, 
quicksilver,  acids  for  telegraphic  purposes,  chloroform  and  morphine  for 
medical  stores,  to  the  amount  of  $300,000  or  thereabouts — all  of  the  great- 
est necessity  to  the  rebels,  and  had  run  into  the  Bayou  La  Fourche,  in  the 
west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  from  which  bayou  she  might,  if  she  thought 
proper,  run  to  Vicksburg. 

"  She  had  besides  the  invoices,  letters  of  advice,  bills  of  lading,  bills  of 
exchange,  and  the  evidences  of  the  transactions  of  many  of  the  mercantile 
houses  of  New  Orleans. 

"  The  letters  of  advice,  bills  of  lading,  and  invoices  show  the  nature  of 
the  transaction  between  these  parties  and  their  correspondents  at  Havana. 
The  bills  of  exchange  were  products  of  the  shipments  of  cotton,  less  the 
proportion  invested  in  contraband  goods.  Among  them  were  the  bills  of 
exchange  payable  to  the  house  of  Avendano  Brothers,  the  first  having  been 
forwarded  by  some  other  conveyance,  but  still  unpaid,  and  these  bills  of  ex- 
change were  for  one-half  the  proceeds  of  the  cargo  shipped,  the  other  half 
being  invested  in  munitions  of  war. 

"  This  vessel  also  carried  a  mail,  containing  amongst  other  things,  the 
official  correspondence  between  the  rebel  commissioner  Rost,  which  I  for- 
warded to  the  state  department,  and  the  rebel  ordnance  office  in  Eurcoe, 
relating  to  his  movements  there,  which  I  forwarded  to  the  war  departme&t, 
as  well  as  other  important  letters  which  developed  the  nature  of  the  busi- 
ness being  carried  on  between  this  port  and  the  miscalled  neutral  ports — 
Havana  and  Nassau.  Upon  personal  examination,  I  had  no  doubt  that  the 
house  of  Avendano  was  largely  interested  in,  or  the  consignees  of  the  major 
part  of  the  cargo  of  the  'Fox ;'  and  in  order  to  put  a  stop  to  this  traffic, 
which  could  still  be  carried  on  through  the  fifty-three  openings  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  from  Louisiana,  I  called  upon  the  house  of  Avendano;  and 
upon  personal  examination  they  did  not  deny  the  part  they  had  taken  in 
the  traffic. 

"  I  required  them,  therefore,  having  captured  in  bulk  one-half  the  fruits 
of  their  illegal  traffic,  and  having  captured  the  other  half  thereof  in  the 
shape  of  a  bill  of  exchange,  to  pay  over  the  other  half,  being  the  bills  of 
exchange.  This  they  did,  and  received  the  bills  of  exchange  and  papers, 
regarding  that  as  a  light  punishment  for  their  crimes. 

"  Because  of  other  transactions  which  have  come  to  my  knowledge,  the 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.       391 

senior  partner  has  escaped  to  Havana,  bnt  the  house  is  still  carrying  on 
business  here,  and  are  the  consignees  of  the  steamer  '  Cardenas,'  which  has 
been  the  cause  of  so  many  breaches  of  our  quarantine  laws  and  so  many 
complaints  of  the  Spanish  minister. 

"  Avendano  sent  a  rebel  lawyer,  who  had  refused  to  renew  his  oath  o* 
allegiance  to  the  United  States,  to  me  to  make  some  representations  of  the 
matter  and  to  argue  certain  legal  questions.  In  answer  to  some  suggestions 
as  to  the  amount  of  fine,  I  told  him  that  Avendano  might  think  himself 
well  off  if  he  lost  no  more  of  the  profits  of  his  infernal  trade. 

u  This,  it  will  be  observed,  was  about  the  19th  of  May,  and  no  complaints 
are  made  of  it  for  three  months,  until  emboldened  by  the  success  of  the 
complaints  to  the  commission  here,  which  has  done  more  to  strengthen  the 
hand  of  secession  than  any  other  occurrence  of  the  south-west  since  my  ad- 
vent in  New  Orleans,  and  the  commissioner  of  which  commission,  as  I  am 
now  ready  to  prove,  acted  as  the  paid  attorney  of  rebels  in  making  claims 
against  the  United  States  from  retainers  taken  because  of  his  acting  here 
in  his  official  capacity. 

"This  commission,  I  say,  emboldened  these  new  complaints  of  my  action 
by  mercantile  pirates  and  marauders,  who  supplied  arms  and  powder  to  trai- 
tors, and  who  are  only  saved  from  the  consequences  of  treason  because  they 
have  not  given  their  allegiance  to  the  country  that  had  given  them  protec- 
tion and  enabled  them  to  accumulate  fortunes ;  advantages  they  believed 
their  own  governments  could  not  give  them,  and  so  preferred  to  live  undev 
ours,  but  not  to  assume  their  proper  obligations. 

"They  should  have  been  hanged;  they  wrere  only  fined. 

"  His  excellency,  the  Spanish  minister,  seems  to  think  that  running  the 
blockade  carries  its  own  punishment  with  it ;  but  this  is  not  a  case  of  run- 
ning a  blockade  merely,  but  is  the  case  of  an  importer  of  arms,  of  an  army 
contractor  for  the  rebel  government;  and  this  draft,  which  the  house  of 
Avendano  has  paid,  and  the  money  used  for  the  support  of  the  troops  of 
the  United  States  in  this  department,  is  only  one-half  the  proceeds  of  a 
single  adventure  of  the  house  of  Avendano  in  breaking  the  laws  and  aiding 
the  rebellion — the  other  half  being  returned  to  the  Confederates  in  arms 
and  munitions  of  war. 

"  I  aver  to  the  secretary  of  war,  upon  my  official  responsibility,  that  with- 
out, aid  furnished  by  foreign  mercantile  houses  in  New  Orleans,  Mobile, 
Savannah  and  Charleston,  as  I  am  convinced  by  the  most  irrefragable 
evidence,  this  rebellion  would  have  wholly  failed  to  arm  and  supply  itself. 
And  the  most  active  agents,  and  most  efficient  supporters  have  been  the 
same  quasi  foreign  houses,  mostly  Jews  and  their  correspondents,  principal- 
ly in  Havana  and  Nassau ;  who  all  deserve  to  receive  at  the  hands  of  this 
government  what  is  due  to  the  Jew  Benjamin,  Slidell,  Mallory  or  Floyd. 
Only  the  strong  repressive  measures  which  have  been  fearlessly  and  ener- 


392       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

getically  taken  in  this  department,  have  prevented  the  supply  from  still  going 
on  here  as  it  does  at  Charleston  in  South  Carolina. 

"  Tempted  by  the  immense  profits,  waging  the  war  in  order  to  realize 
those  profits,  these  foreign  adventurers  have  done  everything  they  could  to 
sustain  the  war,  and  to  inflame  the  passions  of  the  people  against  the  United 
States;  and  their  reiterated  complaints  of  my  conduct,  and  the  howl  in 
Europe  and  elsewhere  set  up  by  them  at  my  every  act,  have  been  simply 
the  result  of  the  disappointment  of  those  who  desire  that  some  action  may 
be  taken  by  the  government  which  would  reopen  to  them  a  most  profitable 
trade,  which  I  have  closed  by  the  measures  of  which  complaint  has  been 
made,  and  as  to  which  the  honorable  secretary  of  state  has  been  pleased 
to  say  redress  will  be  made  if  I  fail  to  justify  my  acts. 

"  I  have  stated  the  grounds  upon  which  my  action  proceeded,  and  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  taken.  Of  coarse,  to  do  this  work  could  be  of  no 
personal  advantage  to  myself  and  only  entailed  great  and  severe  labor. 

"  It  was  dictated  by  a  sense  of  duty,  and  upon  full  and  thorough  examin- 
ation I  have  failed  to  see  any  reason  why  it  should  not  be  persevered  in. 
But  I  respectfully  submit  that  it  adds  not  a  little  to  the  already  overtasking 
labor  of  this  department,  to  be  continually  called  upon,  months  after,  to 
reinvestigate  and  report  upon  acts  which  were  within  the  scope  of  my 
jurisdiction  in  the  fair  exercise  of  the  discretion  of  a  military  commander, 
and  for  which  I  should  be  called  to  account,  not  by  a  letter  of  a  foreign  con- 
sular agent  on  the  ex  parte  statement  of  a  Spanish  smuggler,  but  by  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  or  the  president  of  the  United  States,  to 
whom  I  am  as  ready  to  account  for  my  every  action,  as  I  am  to  my  country 
and  my  God." 

This  is  strong  language.  The  documents  before  me  justify  it. 
They  show  beyond  all  doubt  that  the  rebels  in  New  Orleans,  both 
native  and  foreign,  were  only  deterred  from  ministering  to  the  re- 
bellion by  the  fact  which  General  Butler  never  allowed  them  to 
forget,  that  in  New  Orleans  the  United  States  was  Master. 

English  and  Spanish  Men-of-War  at  New  Orleans. 

The  officers  and  crews  of  foreign  vessels-of-war  that  chanced  to 
visit  New  Orleans  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1862,  took  pains  to 
show  that  they  were  in  accord  with  the  secession  consuls  and  the 
disloyal  citizens.  New  Orleans  was  a  good  place  to  learn  that  in 
this  great  quarrel  there  are  arrayed  against  the  United  States  tht 
entire  baseness,  and  a  great  part  ol  the  ignorance,  of  the  human 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.       393 

race.  Every  one  in  the  world  is  against  us,  who  is  willing  to  live 
ujjon  the  unrequited,  or  upon  the  ill-requited  labor  of  others. 

The  British  ship-of-war  Rinaldo  was  in  port  during  the  early- 
days  of  July.  The  humor  of  the  officers  and  crew  of  this  ship 
may  best  be  shown  from  the  matter-of-fact  report  of  Mr.  James 
Duane,  lieutenant  of  police: — "  Having  learned  on  Thursday  even- 
ing that  a  large  crowd  of  turbulent  citizens  was  collected  on  the 
levee  opposite  the  steamer  Rinaldo,  and  that  on  board  that  vessel 
certain  parties  were  engaged  in  singing  the  '  Bonnie  Blue  Flag,' 
and  crying  '  Down  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes,'  and  that  the  crowd 
were  responding  by  cheers  for  Jeff.  Davis,  the  Southern  Confeder- 
acy, &c. ;  and,  apprehending  a  riot,  I  detailed  my  entire  force,  and 
accompanied  them  myself  to  the  levee,  where  I  arrived  about  eight 
o'clock  p.  m.,  and  found  a  crowd  of  nearly  two  thousand  men, 
women,  and  children.  From  the  ship  I  distinctly  heard  the  singing 
of  the  '  Bonnie  Blue  Flag,'  cheers  for  Jeff.  Davis ;  cries  of  '  Down 
with  the  Stars  and  Stripes,'  and  '  Up  with  the  Flag  of  the  Single 
Star.'  The  response  by  the  crowd  was  not  general,  but  con- 
fined to  an  occasional  voice,  and  as  fast  as  it  occurred  I  arrested 
the  party  so  responding.  The  same  conduct  occurred  on  Friday 
night,  to  my  personal  knowledge. 

"  From  my  officers,  and  citizens  residing  in  the  neighborhood,  1 
have  received  information  that  the  same  proceedings  took  place  on 
the  Wednesday  evening  preceding  the  above,  and,  in  addition, 
that  on  that  evening  a  secession  flag  was  flying  on  board  the 
Rinaldo  for  a  short  time,  and  that  a  smaller  flag  of  the  Confederacy 
was  flying  from  the  boats  that  conveyed  visitors  to  and  from  the 
vessel  and  the  levee.  On  Saturday  evening,  the  same  demon- 
strations were  repeated,  with  the  exception  of  the  display  of  seces- 
sion flags.  And,  furthermore,  on  the  same  evening,  between  eight 
and  nine  o'clock,  one  of  my  officers  saw  an  officer  of  the  Rinaldo,  in 
uniform,  accompanied  by  a  man  who  claimed  to  belong  to  that 
vessel,  and  a  tall  negro.  The  officer  was  intoxicated,  and  was 
singing,  the  'Bonnie  Blue  Flag.'  My  officer  stepped  up  to  him 
and  told  him  he  must  not  sing  that  song.  The  British  officer  re- 
plied that  'he  would  sing  what  he  damn  pleased.'  They  then 
went  on  down  the  levee  and  got  into  their  ship's  boat,  and  as  soon 
as  they  were  out  of  the  reach  of  the  police  officer,  called  out  '  God 
damn  the  Yankee  sons  of ,  one  Englishman  can  whip  ten  of 


394       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

them,'  and  again  sung  the  '  Bonnie  Blue  Flag,'  all  joining  in  thu 
song." 

"Word  was  brought  to  General  Butler,  on  the  3d  of  July,  that  the 
captain  of  the  Rinaldo  had  promised  his  secession  friends  to  hoist 
the  rebel  flag  on  his  ship  on  the  morning  of  the  fourth.  The  gene 
ral,  I  am  told,  avowed  to  a  confidential  member  of  his  staff,  his 
solemn  and  deliberate  resolve,  if  the  flag  was  officially  displayed, 
to  open  fire  upon  the  ship  with  artillery.  The  hoisting  of  the  flag, 
he  considered,  would  be  more  than  an  insult  to  the  United  States ;  it 
would  constitute  the  ship  a  rebel  vessel,  and,  as  such,  she  was  to  be 
fired  upon,  the  very  instant  a  Union  gun  could  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  her.     The  report  proved  to  be  false. 

Still  more  outrageous  was  the  conduct  of  the  Spanish  man-of- 
war.  It  was  in  a  Spanish  vessel,  as  we  have  seen,  that  the  French 
consul  shipped  his  $405,000.  Other  Spanish  vessels-of-war  car- 
ried away  passengers,  treasure,  plate,  papers,  which  were  justly 
liable  to  seizure.  "The  deck  of  the  Blasco  de  Garay,"  wrote 
General  Butler  in  October,  "  was  literally  crowded  with  passen- 
gers, selected  with  so  little  discrimination,  that  my  detective  officers 
found  on  board,  as  a  passenger,  an  escaped  convict  of  the  peniten- 
tiary, who  was  in  full  flight  from  a  most  brutal  murder,  with  his 
booty  robbed  from  his  victim  with  him."  On  other  Spanish  ships 
several  persons  deeply  implicated  in  the  rebellion,  guilty  of  hostile 
acts  after  the  capture  of  the  city,  effected  their  escape  to  Havana, 
with  large  amouuts  of  treasure.  Hence  the  claim  of  General 
Butler  to  search  departing  vessels-of-war,  and  hence  a  ream  of  com- 
plaints and  protests  from  Spanish  officers. 

The  Quarantine  Imbroglio. 

It  is  not  generally  known  at  the  North,  that,  in  the  worst  years, 
the  mortality  from  yellow  fever  in  New  Orleans  exceeds  that  from 
any  epidemic  that  has  ever  raged  in  a  civilized  community.  It  is 
worse  than  the  modern  cholera,  worse  than  the  small-pox  before 
inoculation,  worse  than  the  ancient  plague.  A  competent  and 
entirely  trustworthy  writer  gives  the  facts  of  the  yellow  fever  sea- 
son of  1853,  the  most  fatal  year  ever  known  : 

"Commencing  on  the  1st  of  August,  with  one  hundred  and  six 
deaths  by  yellow  fever,  one  hundred  and  forty-two  by  all  diseases, 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.       395 

the  number  increased  daily,  until  for  the  first  week,  ending  on  the 
7th,  they  amounted  to  nine  hundred  and  nine  deaths  by  yellow 
fever,  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  of  all  diseases. 
The  next  week  showed  a  continued  increase :  one  thousand  two 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  yellow  fever,  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  twenty-six  of  all  diseases.  This  was  believed  to  be  the  max- 
imum. There  had  been  nothing  to  equal  it  in  the  history  of  any 
previous  epidemics,  and  no  one  believed  it  could  be  exceeded.  But 
the  next  week  gave  a  mournful  refutation  of  these  predictions  and 
calculations  ;  for  that  ever  memorable  week,  the  total  deaths  were 
one  thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy-five,  of  yellow  fever  one 
thousand  three  hundred  and  forty-six.  But  the  next  week  com- 
menced more  gloomily  still.  The  deaths  on  the  2 2d  of  August  were 
two  hundred  and  eighty-three  of  all  diseases,  two  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  of  yellow  fever.  This  proved  to  be  the  maximum  mor- 
tality of  the  season.  From  this  it  began  slowiy  to  decrease.  The 
month  of  August  exhibited  a  grand  total  of  five  thousand  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-two  deaths  by  yellow  fever,  and  nearly  seven  thou- 
sand deaths  of  all  diseases.  Slowly  the  disease  continued  to  de- 
crease, only  for  the  want  of  victims,  until  on  the  6th  of  September 
(at  which  time  these  notes  are  transcribed),  when  it  reached  sixty- 
five  deaths  by  yellow  fever,  and  ninety-five  deaths  of  all  diseases. 
Looking  back  from  this  point,  we  find  that  the  whole  number  of 
deaths  by  yellow  fever,  from  its  first  appearance  on  the  28th  of 
May,  were  seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine — deaths 
from  all  diseases  nine  thousand  nine  hundred  and  forty-one.  But 
there  are  three  hundred  and  forty-four  deaths  the  cause  of  which  is 
not  stated  in  the  burial  certificates.  At  least  three  fourths  of  these 
may  beset  down  to  the  yellow  fever  column — which  would  add 
two  hundred  and  fifty  more,  and  make  the  deaths  by  yellow  fever 
seven  thousand  four  hundred  and  thirty-nine. 

"  But  do  these  figures  include  all  the  deaths  ?  Alas !  no.  Hun- 
dreds have  been  buried  of  whom  no  note  was  taken,  no  record  kept. 
Hundreds  have  died  away  from  the  city,  in  attempting  to  fly  from 
it.  Every  steamer  up  the  river  contributed  its  share  to  the  heca- 
tombs of  victims  of  the  pestilence.  Nor  do  these  returns  include 
those  who  have  died  in  the  suburbs,  in  the  towns  of  Algiers  and 
Jefferson  City,  in  the  villages  of  Gretna  and  Carrollton.  But  even 
these  figures,  deficient  as  they  are,  need  no  additions  to  swell  them 


396       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

into  proofs  that  the  most  destructive  plague  of  modern  times  has 
just  wreaked  its  vengeance  upon  New  Orleans.  Estimating  the 
total  deaths  at  eight  thousand  for  three  months,  we  have  ten  per 
cent,  of  the  whole  population  of  New  Orleans.  At  this  rate  it  would 
only  require  two  years  and  four  months  to  depopulate  the  city. 

"  But  only  the  unacclimated  are  liable  to  the  disease,  and  so  we 
must  exclude  the  old  resident  acclimated  population,  which,  with 
slaves,  and  free  colored  persons,  embrace  at  least  two-thirds  of  the 
summer  population  of  New  Orleans.  This  would  reduce  the  num- 
ber liable  to  yellow  fever  below  thirty  thousand.  Of  that  number 
one-fourth  have  died  in  three  months.  There  is  scarcely  any  paral- 
lel to  this  mortality.  The  great  Plague  of  London,  in  1665,  destroy- 
ed one  out  of  every  thirteen,  and  one-third  of  its  population.  That 
of  New  Orleans,  in  1853,  destroyed  one  out  of  every  ten  of  its  total 
population,  and  one  out  of  every  four  of  those  susceptible  of  the 
disease.  This  exceeds  the  mortality  in  Philadelphia,  in  1798,  when 
it  was  estimated  that  one  out  of  every  six  died."* 

These  are  terrible  figures.  The  year  1853,  was,  however,  an 
exceptional  year.  New  Orleans  has  often  escaped  the  yellow  fever 
for  years  in  succession.  Its  visitations  were  frequent  enough  to 
make  it  an  ever  present  terror  during  the  summer  months,  and  to 
reduce  the  summer  population  of  the  city  to  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  unacclimated  persons.  The  city  had  never  escaped  it 
in  such  circumstances  as  existed  in  1862;  had  never  escaped  it 
when  the  fever  raged  in  the  neighboring  ports  of  Havana  and 
Nassau ;  had  never  e&japed  it  when  the  city  was  filled  with  per- 
sons unaccustomed  to  the  climate.  The  rebels  were,  therefore,  jus- 
tified in  anticipating,  with  perfect  confidence,  that  the  season  of 
1862  would  present  the  same  scenes  of  horror  and  devastation  as 
those  of  1853. 

No  language  can  overstate  the  terrors  of  such  a  visitation. 
"Funeral  processions,"  says  the  writer  just  quoted,  "crowded 
every  street.  No  vehicles  could  be  seen  except  doctors'  cabs  and 
coaches,  passing  to  and  from  the  cemeteries,  and  hearses,  often 
solitary,  taking  their  way  toward  those  gloomy  destinations.  The 
hum  of  trade  was  hushed.  The  levee  was  a  desert.  The  streets, 
wont  to  shine  with  fashion  and  beauty,  were  silent.  The  tombs — 
the  home  of  the  dead — were  the  only  places  where  there  was  life, 

*  Harper's  Magazine,  November.  1858. 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS.       397 

where  crowds  assembled,  where  the  incessant  rumbling  of  car- 
riages, the  trampling  of  feet,  the  murmur  of  voices,  and  all  the 
signs  of  active,  stirring  life  could  be  heard  and  seen. 

"  To  realize  the  full  horror  and  virulence  of  the  pestilence,  you 
must  go  into  the  crowded  localities  of  the  laboring  classes,  into 
those  miserable  shanties  which  are  the  disgrace  of  the  city,  where 
the  poor  immigrant  class  cluster  together  in  filth,  sleeping  a  half- 
dozen  in  one  room,  without  ventilation,  and  having  access  to  filthy, 
wet  yards,  which  have  never  been  filled  up,  and  when  it  rains  are 
converted  into  green  puddles — fit  abodes  for  frogs  and  sources  of 
poisonous  malaria.  Here  you  will  find  scenes  of  woe,  misery,  and 
death,  which  will  haunt  your  memory  in  all  time  to  come.  Here 
you  will  see  the  dead  and  the  dying,  the  sick  and  the  convalescent, 
in  one  and  the  same  bed.  Here  you  will  see  the  living  babe  suck- 
ing death  from  the  yellow  breast  of  its  dead  mother.  Here  father, 
mother,  and  child  die  in  one  another's  arms.  Here  you  will  find 
whole  families  swept  off  in  a  few  hours,  so  that  none  are  left  to 
mourn  or  to  procure  the  rites  of  burial.  Offensive  odors  frequently 
drew  neighbors  to  such  awful  spectacles.  Corpses  would  thus 
proclaim  their  existence,  and  enforce  the  observances  due  them. 
What  a  terrible  disease!  Terrible  in  its  insidious  character,  in 
its  treachery,  in  the  quiet  serpent-like  manner  in  which  it  gradually 
winds  its  folds  around  its  victim,  beguiles  him  by  its  deceptive 
wiles;  cheats  his  judgment  and  senses,  and  then  consigns  him  to 
grim  death.  Not  like  the  plague,  with  its  red  spot,  its  maddening 
fever,  its  wild  delirium  and  stupor — not  like  the  cholera,  in  violent 
spasms  and  prostrating  pains,  is  the  approach  of  the  vomito.  It  as- 
sumes the  guise  of  the  most  ordinary  disease  which  flesh  is  heir  to 
— a  cold,  a  slight  chill,  a  headache,  a  slight  fever,  and,  after  a 
while,  pains  in  the  back.  Surely  there  is  nothing  in  these!  ;I 
won't  lay  by  for  them,'  says  the  misguided  victim ;  the  poor 
laborer  can  not  afford  to  do  so.  Instead  of  going  to  bed,  sending 
for  a  nurse  and  doctor,  taking  a  mustard-bath  and  a  cathartic,  he 
remains  at  his  post  until  it  is  too  late.  He  has  reached  the  crisis  of 
the  disease  before  he  is  aware  of  its  existence.  The  chances  are 
thus  against  him.  The  fever  mounts  up  rapidly,  and  the  poison 
pervades  his  whole  system.  He  tosses  and  rolls  on  his  bed,  and 
raves  in  agony.  Thus  he  continues  for  thirty-six  hours.  Then  the 
fever  breaks,  gradually  it  passes  off— joy  and  hope  begin  to  dawn 


398       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

upon  him.  He  is  through  now.  '  Am  I  not  better,  Doctor  ?' 
*  You  are  doing  well,  but  must  be  very  quiet,'  Doing  well !  How 
does  the  learned  gentleman  know  ?  Can  he  see  into  his  stomach, 
and  perceive  there  collecting  the  dark  brown  liquid  which  marks 
the  dissolution  that  is  going  on  ?  The  fever  suddenly  returns,  but 
now  the  paroxysm  is  more  brief.  Again  the  patient  is  quiet,  but 
not  so  hopeful  as  before.  He  is  weak,  prostrate,  and  bloodless, 
but  he  has  no  fever  ;  his  pulse  is  regular,  sound,  and  healthy, 
and  his  skin  moist.  *  He  will  get  well,'  says  the  casual  observer. 
The  doctor  shakes  his  head  ominously.  After  a  while,  drops  of 
blood  are  seen  collecting  about  his  lips.  Blood  comes  from  his 
gums — that  is  a  bad  sign,  but  such  cases  frequently  occur.  Soon 
he  has  a  hiccough.  That  is  worse  than  the  bleeding  at  the  gums  : 
then  follows  the  ejection  of  a  dark  brown  liquid  which  he  throws  up 
in  large  quantities ;  and  this  in  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  cases 
out  of  a  thousand  is  the  signal  that  the  doctor's  function  is  at  an  end, 
and  the  undertaker's  is  to  commence.  In  a  few  hours  the  coffin  will 
receive  its  tenant,  and  mother  earth  her  customary  tribute." 

Dr.  McCormick,  who  was  in  the  city  during  those  fearful  weeks, 
has  assured  me  that  this  picture  is  not  overcharged. 

It  was  such  an  evil  as  this  that  General  Butler  set  himself  to 
ward  from  the  city  which  he  had  been  called  to  govern  and  pro- 
tect. His  success  was  most  remarkable.  The  yellow  fever  raged 
at  Nassau,  at  Havana,  and  at  other  neighboring  ports,  but  New 
Orleans  escaped.  Twenty  thousand  unacclimated  persons,  strangers, 
northerners,  were  in  Louisiana,  but  not  one  of  them  had  the  fever. 
On  the  contrary,  the  men  of  his  command  enjoyed  an  extraordi- 
nary exemption  from  all  mortal  disease.  They  suffered  little  from 
the  continuous  heat,  less  from  violent  maladies. 

There  was,  indeed,  one  moment  of  danger,  and  of  great  alarm  at 
head-quarters.  Dr.  McCormick,  late  in  the  season,  when  the  dan- 
ger was  supposed  to  be  nearly  over,  came  into  the  general's  office 
one  morning,  and  reported  that  a  case  of  yellow  fever  of  the  worst 
type  had  been  landed  in  the  city.  It  was  even  so.  The  rigor  of 
the  quarantine  had  been  once  relaxed,  and  this  was  the  alarming 
result.  The  affair  was  kept  as  secret  as  possible.  The  house  in 
which  the  man  lay  was  cleared  of  all  inmates  save  himself  and  one 
acclimated  attendant.  The  block  of  which  the  house  was  part 
was  walled  around  by  sentinels.    No  living  creature  was  permitted 


GENERAL   BUTLER   AND  THE   FOREIGN   CONSULS.  J>99 

to  enter  or  leave  it.  In  five  days  the  man  died.  Every  article  in 
his  room  was  burnt  or  buried.  His  attendant  was  quarantined. 
The  house,  the  block,  the  quarter  of  the  city,  was  fumigated, 
cleansed,  and  whitewashed.  Every  precaution  which  the  skill  of 
the  doctors  could  devise  and  the  authority  of  the  general  enforce 
was  employed.  No  one  caught  the  disease.  This  single  case, 
brought  from  Nassau,  was  ail  the  yellow  fever  known  in  New 
Orleans  during  the  season  of  1862. 

It  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  future  of  Louisiana  that  the 
means  employed  by  General  Butler  to  preserve  the  health  of  the 
city  should  be  known.  Sanitary  science,  as  the  reader  is  aware, 
was  a  familiar  subject  with  him  before  he  began  his  military  career. 
His  researches  led  him  to  adopt  the  theory  that  the  yellow  fever 
is  indigenous  in  no  region  where  there  is  frost  every  winter.  There 
is  frost  every  winter  in  every  part  of  the  United  States.  He,  there- 
fore, concluded  that  the  yellow  fever  is  not  a  disease  native  to  our 
soil,  but  is  always  brought  from  a  tropical  port.  The  gulf  coasts 
generate,  it  is  true,  the  malaria  which  serves  as  a  medium  for  the 
most  calamitous  spread  of  the  disease ;  but  the  deadly  poison  which 
issues  in  the  yellow  fever  is  brought  from  abroad.  The  magazine 
is  ready,  but  the  foreign  spark  is  indispensable.  He  relied  chiefly, 
therefore,  upon  a  quarantine ;  and  this  he  enforced  with  such  rig- 
orous impartiality,  that  the  state  department  was  inundated  with 
complaints,  reclamations,  and  protests,  and  the  ear  of  the  public 
was  assailed  with  charges  of  favoritism  and  corruption.  But  he 
never  relaxed  his  clutch  upon  the  throat  of  the  Mississippi.  "  My 
orders,"  he  wrote  on  one  occasion,  "  are  imperative  and  distinct  to 
my  health- officers,  to  subject  all  vessels  coming  from  infected  ports 
to  such  a  quarantine  as  shall  insure  safety  from  disease.  Whether 
one  day  or  one  hundred  is  necessary  for  the  purpose,  it  will  be 
done.  It  wlil  be  done  if  it  is  necessary  to  take  the  vessel  to  pieces 
to  do  it,  so  long  as  the  United  States  has  the  physical  power  to  en- 
force it.  I  have  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  my  very  competent 
surgeon  at  the  quarantine  the  question  of  the  length  of  time  and 
the  action  to  be  taken  to  insure  safety.  I  have  by  no  order  inter- 
fered with  his  discretion.  If  he  thinks  ten  days  sufficient  in  a 
given  case,  be  it  so ;  if  forty  in  another,  be  it  so ;  if  one  hundred  in 
another,  it  shall  be  so." 

And  so  it  was,  as  the  volumes  of  documents  unanswerably  show. 


400  GENERAL   BUTLER   AND   THE   FOREIGN    CONSULS. 

The  consular  complaints  had  at  length  the  usual  fortunate  effect 
of  extorting  from  General  Butler  one  of  those  clear  and  interesting 
statements  of  fact,  of  which  the  reader  has  already  been  favored 
with  several  specimens.  In  this  masterly  paper,  he  gives  a  history 
of  his  expedients  for  keeping  away  the  yellow  fever,  and  replies  to 
the  numberless  accusations  of  partiality,  which  had  been,  and  still 
are  brought  against  him.  It  was  the  case  of  the  Cardenas,  a  Span- 
ish ship,  plying  between  Havana  and  New  Orleans,  which  he  was 
requested  by  the  secretary  of  war  to  elucidate,  and  which  called 
forth  the  following  important  narrative : 

""When  New  Orleans  was  captured,"  wrote  the  general,  October  1st,  "it 
was  found  in  the  utmost  possible  filthy  condition,  because  of  the  trouble- 
some times.  The  contractors  upon  all  the  streets  and  canals  had  utterly 
neglected  to  comply  with  their  contracts  for  cleaning  and  purifying  the 
streets,  and  the  filth  was  indescribable. 

"  In  view  of  this  most  alarming  sanitary  condition  of  the  city,  and  tho 
approach  of  the  epidemic  season,  after  consultation  with  the  most  eminent 
local  physicians,  who  would  give  advice  (some  refusing  to  give  any  opinion 
with  the  apparent  hope  that  the  pestilence  would  do  what  their  rebel  arms 
could  not,  drive  us  out),  and  acting  with  the  advice  of  my  medical  staff,  I 
took  the  most  energetic  measures  to  purify  the  city  itself  from  the  possi- 
bility of  engendering  disease.  Believing  at  the  same  time  that  the  yellow 
fever  was  no  more  indigenous  to  ISTew  Orleans  than  the  sugar  cane,  but  must 
be  imparted  or  propagated  as  that  is  by  cuttings,  and  that  a  firmly  admin- 
istered quarantine,  guided  by  science  and  honesty  of  purpose,  discriminat- 
ing as  regards  cargoes  and  cleanliness  of  ships,  would  effectually  keep  out 
the  scourge  of  the  city,  the  prayed  for  ally  of  the  rebellion,  I  ordered 
quarantine  to  be  enforced  with  these  discriminations,  not  '  a  procrustean 
period  of  quarantine  to  all.'  A  vessel  loaded  with  hides  and  wool,  the  ab- 
sorbants  of  the  malaria,  with  a  filthy  hold  reeking  with  dead  and  putrid 
organic  matter,  loaded  at  an  infected  port  with  infected  hands,  sown  thick 
with  the  seeds  of  disease,  only  waiting  for  time  and  the  warm  sun  to  de- 
velop them  into  a  plague,  was  not  put  on  an  equality  as  to  time  with  a 
steamer  for  passengers,  kept  clean  and  sweet  as  a  mercantile  necessity  to 
procure  business,  laden  with  flour,  tight  casks  of  salted  provisions  and 
round  shot  and  shell,  which  would  not  be  likely  either  to  absorb  or  gene- 
rate contagion. 

"  Again,  the  length  of  time  in  which  a  ship  and  cargo  had  been  exposed 
to  the  danger  of  contagion  had  much  to  do  with  the  quarantine.  A  ship 
belonging  to  an  infected  port,  loaded  there  with  the  product  or  the  manu- 
facture of  that  port,  her  crew  acclimated  and  therefore  indifferent  to  san- 


GENERAL   BUTLER    AND   THE   FOREIGN   CONSULS.  401 

itary  regulations  and  appliances,  required  to  be  kept  under  quarantine 
longer,  to  watch  the  probable  development  of  disease,  and  to  await  the  op- 
eration of  purification,  than  a  vessel  loaded  at  a  northern  port,  where  the 
frost  insured  health  in  this  regard,  and  which  had  merely  touched  at  a  port 
afflicted  with  yellow  fever,  and  held  communication  with  the  shore  under 
the  restriction  imposed  by  the  fears  of  unacclimated  officers  and  crew. 

"These  and  kindred  considerations  which  will  readily  suggest  themselves 
to  your  mind,  were  the  controlling  guide  to  the  very  intelligent  medical 
officers  who  were  in  charge  at  quarantine,  as  they  were  to  my  own  mind 
upon  the  necessity  and  length  of  detention.  We  determined,  however,  to 
err,  if  at  all,  upon  the  safe  side,  remembering  ever  the  far  greater  import- 
ance of  the  lives  of  a  large  city  and  an  army  committed  to  our  charge, 
than  the  possible  damage  to  any  commercial  adventure  from  detention. 

"I  need  not  assure  you,  sir,  that  the  question  of  'nationality'  never  en- 
tered into  our  thought  in  the  exercise  of  our  judgment  and  power,  except 
in  one  possible  relation. 

"  We  could  not  help  looking  with  a  little  less  care  to,  and  holding  under 
advisement  a  little  less  time,  a  vessel  of  a  nation  proverbial  for  the  neatness 
of  their  ships,  as  compared  with  one  which  enjoyed  an  unenviable  reputa- 
tion the  other  way.  With  these  theories,  and  upon  these  bases,  have  the 
quarantine  and  health  laws  been  administered  at  New  Orleans,  up  to  the 
first  day  of  October. 

"  I  can  point  with  a  reasonably  justified  pride  to  the  results  as  an  explana- 
tion and  a  vindication  of  my  acts  and  administration  in  this  particular. 
Pardon  me,  if  I  add,  that  I  claim  for  this  triumph  of  science,  integrity,  firm- 
ness, and  skill  of  my  medical  staff,  by  which  thousands  of  lives  have  been 
saved,  and  by  far  the  most  dreaded  foe  driven  from  the  city  of  New  Or- 
leans, as  much  credit,  as  if  by  the  disposition  of  my  troops  we  had  won  a 
victory  over  the  less  deadly  but  hardly  less  implacable  enemy  in  a  conflict 
of  arms. 

11  Up  to  this  date,  there  has  been  no  malignant,  or  epidemical,  or  virulent 
fevers  or  diseases  in  New  Orleans,  and  its  mortality  returns  show  it  to  be 
the  most  healthy  city  in  the  United  States.  In  one  regiment,  the  Thir- 
teenth Connecticut,  a  thousand  strong,  quartered  in  the  Custom-House 
since  the  loth  of  May,  but  one  man  was  lost  during  the  months  of  July  and 
August. 

"  His  excellency,  Mr.  Tarsara,  the  Spanish  minister,  is  most  grievously 
misinformed  when  he  says  to  the  secretary  of  state,  that  the  salubrity  of 
New  Orleans  is  no  better  than  that  of  the  island  of  Cuba. 

"  Our  quarantine  has  been  more  perfect  than  the  blockade.  We  have 
had  serious  cases  of  fever  at  the  quarantine,  only  seventy-five  miles  from 
us,  and  but  a  single  one  at  New  Orleans,  and  this  one  at  once  justifies  and 
illustrates  our  sanitary  laws. 


4:02  GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

"The  United  States  steamship  'Ida,'  having  only  touched  at  Hassan,  and 
no  disease  having  been  reported  as  existing  there  at  the  time  of  her  depart- 
ure, was  permitted  to  pass  up  by  the  health-officer  after  fumigation  and 
other  precautions.  The  day  after  her  arrival  in  the  city,  one  of  her  passen- 
gers on  shore  was  taken  sick  and  on  the  sixth  day  died ;  an  unmistakable 
case  of  malignant  yellow  fever.  The  most  strenuous  measures  were  taken, 
to  isolate  the  disease.  Everything  that  touched  or  was  about  the  diseased 
man  was  buried;  acclimated  persons  only  were  allowed  to  do  the  last  sad 
offices.  The  house  in  which  he  died  was  most  thoroughly  purified,  and  by 
the  blessing  of  '  Him  who  holdeth  all  things  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,'  the 
pestilence  was  stayed. 

"  The  steamer  was  ordered  at  once  below,  where  she  is  undergoing  quar- 
antine. Even  while  I  write  this,  the  English  consul  reports  the  British 
brig  '  Volunteer'  to  me  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  out  of  provisions,  her 
officers  and  crew,  including  the  captain,  dead  or  sick  with  fever,  and  prays 
for  assistance;  and  a  telegraphic  message  sends  from  the  quarantine  my 
health-officer  on  board  with  medical  supplies  and  other  aid. 

"I  have  thus  given  to  the  department  a  full  explanation  of  the  com- 
plaints involved  in  my  administration  of  the  quarantine  laws.  Upon  the 
other  branches  of  the  inquiry  relative  to  the  Spanish  steamer  '  Cardenas,'  I 
am  most  happy  to  report : 

"As  to  the  Spanish  'Cardenas,'  let  me  observe,  that  she  did  not  come  to 
me  in  such  manner  as  to  demand  the  highest  degree  of  courtesy  or  respect. 
The  '  Cardenas'  left  Havana  on  the  31st  of  May,  after  epidemic  yellow  fever 
had  made  its  appearance,  bringing  many  passengers,  a  large  portion  of 
whom  were  rebels  who  had  been  in  Havana  buying  arms  and  munitions  of 
war  for  the  Confederates,  having  on  board  to  bring  her  up  the  river  two 
pilots  who  had  successfully  conducted  vessels  through  the  blockade. 

"  She  ran  past  the  forts  without  stopping,  which  was  permitted  because 
she  was  mistaken  for  the  U.  S.  steamer  '  Connecticut,'  then  hourly  ex- 
pected, which  mistake  caused  the  '  Connecticut'  to  be  fired  at  when  she 
made  her  appearance,  and  attempted  to  go  by  without  reporting. 

"  The  '  Cardenas'  then  loitered  up  the  river  till  near  night,  and  without 
coming  up  to  the  usual  place  of  landing,  or  reporting  to  the  harbor-master, 
came  alongside  a  wharf  some  three  miles  below  the  usual  places  of  steam- 
boat landing,  and  put  on  shore  all  her  passengers  without  passports  being 
examined,  or  any  report  to  any  person,  so  that  many  obnoxious  persons 
escaped  into  the  city,  and  the  provost-marshal  has  never  been  able  to  ascer- 
tain the  character  of  all  her  passengers. 

"  Will  it  be  pretended  that  any  captain  of  a  Spanish  steamer  is  so  igno- 
rant as  not  to  know  that  such  conduct  is  in  the  highest  degree  improper  in 
landing  passengers  at  a  military  post. 

"Mr.  Tarsara  says  well,  'that  no  difficulty  was  made  about  landing  the 


GENEEAL    BTJTLEE    AXD   THE   FOBEIGN    COXSTJLS.  403 

passengers  from  the  steamer.'  True,  because  they  and  their  baggage  were 
surreptitiously  landed  miles  below  the  usual  landing-place,  without  the 
knowledge  of  any  person  friendly  to  the  United  States,  but  evidently  with 
the  knowledge  of  the  secessionists,  because  the  captain  says,  in  his  protest, 
that  '  crowds  invaded  the  vessel  as  soon  as  she  made  the  wharf.' 

"  She  was  ordered  back  to  quarantine ;  but  many  frivolous  excuses  and 
delays  were  interposed  by  her  officers  until  a  most  peremptory  order,  ac- 
companied by  a  threat,  was  given,  which  she  obeyed. 

"  After  a  proper  quarantine,  the  'Cardenas'  came  up — not  of  thirty  days, 
but  one  precisely  such  as  was  thought  sufficient.  I  do  not  understand  Mr. 
Tarsara's  notions  about  reciprocity  in  quarantine.  He  seems  to  insist  that 
if  we  require  a  long  quarantine  at  New  Orleans,  the  governor-general  of 
Cuba  will  require  an  equally  long  one  at  Havana.  But  what  need  of  quar- 
antines at  all  against  epidemic  yellow  fever  in  its  most  virulent  form  ? 
"What  possible  reciprocity  of  quarantine  could  there  be  between  Iceland  and 
Vera  Cruz  ?  I  have  endeavored  to  make  quarantine  a  sensible,  not  a  use- 
less regulation. 

"  It  is  complained,  however,  that  the  U.  S.  steamship  '  Roanoke'  suffered 
a  shorter  detention  at  quarantine  than  the  '  Cardenas,'  and  that  she  sailed 
from  Havana  on  the  day  after. 

"  This  is  an  uncandid  way  of  stating  the  fact.  The  '  Roanoke'  sailed 
from  New  York,  went  into  the  harbor  at  Havana,  stayed  there  less  than 
twenty-four  hours,  and  held  little  or  no  communication  with  the  shore. 
Her  captain  reported  her  at  the  quarantine  station  as  direct  from  New  York. 

"  Was  there  any  reason  for  so  long  a  quarantine  for  her  as  for  a  vessel 
loaded  at  Havana  ? 

M  When  the  '  Roanoke'  was  about  to  sail  for  New  York  on  her  return 
from  New  Orleans,  a  large  number  of  Spanish  persons  were  desirous  of 
taking  passage  in  her  for  Havana,  and  engaged  passage  accordingly.  Upon 
application  to  the  Spanish  consul  for  a  bill  of  health,  as  the  purser  of  the 
'  Roanoke'  informed  me,  the  consul  or  vice-consul  told  him  that  as  '  I  had 
quarantined  the  '  Cardenas,' the  consul  would  not  give  the  'Roanoke' a 
bill  of  health,  but  would  report  that  New  Orleans  was  afflicted  with  epi- 
demic fever  unless  I  would  permit  the  '  Cardenas'  to  come  up,  and  if  so  a 
clean  bill  of  health  would  be  given.' 

"The  effect  of  and  motive  for  this  conduct  was  obvious.  If  the  'Roan- 
oke' went  to  Havana  and  carried  her  passengers,  she  would  take  away  this 
business  from  the  '  Cardenas.'  If  she  carried  such  a  bill  of  health  as  to  put 
her  in  quarantine  at  Havana,  no  New  York  passengers  would  saii1  in  her, 
so  that  she  must  lose  one  or  the  other  lot  of  passengers. 

"  This  seemed  to  me  so  unjust  that  I  sent  for  the  consul  for  an  explana- 
tion. I  understood  his  explanations  to  be  exactly  what  the  purser  of  the 
'  Roanoke'  informed  me  had  been  given  him. 


JNERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

"It  is  proper  here  to  remark  that  I  have  since  been  assured  by  the 
Spanish  consul,  for  whom  I  really  entertain  high  respect,  that  this  conver- 
sation was  misunderstood  by  all  parties,  neither  understanding  the  other's 
language. 

"  I  told  the  consul  at  that  interview,  that  any  retaliation  upon  the 
'  Roanoke'  for  any  supposed  wrong  done  by  me  to  the  '  Cardenas'  ought 
not  to  be,  and  could  not  be  permitted;  'that  if  he  slandered  the  health  of 
the  city  of  New  Orleans,  by  giving  any  report  that  epidemic  yellow  fever 
existed  here,  when  he  knew  it  not  to  be  the  fact,  preventing  trade  and  com- 
merce coming  to  this  port  by  such  false  report,  that  I  would  certainly  send 
him  out  of  the  city  to  Havana,  and  report  his  conduct  to  the  captain-gen- 
eral, as  the  nearest  Spanish  authority;'  and,  in  that  event,  this  I  would 
most  assuredly  have  done.  I  told  him,  that  the  bill  of  health  of  the  '  Roan- 
oke' must  be  such  as  was  required  by  the  laws  and  his  instructions,  pre- 
cisely as  if  nothing  had  been  done  to  the  '  Cardenas.' 

"  To  this  (as  he  was  interpreted  to  me  to  say)  the  consul  replied,  that  he 
would  not  give  a  clean  bill  of  health  to  the  '  Roanoke,'  because  it  was  now 
past  the  first  of  June,  and  whatever  might  be  the  health  of  the  city  in  fact, 
he  must  report  it  unhealthy.  Farther,  that  if  I  still  held  the  '  Cardenas' 
under  quarantine,  he  would  write  to  the  captain-general  of  Cuba,  not  to 
send  any  more  vessels  here. 

"  To  that  I  replied,  that  he  should  give  my  compliments  to  the  captain- 
general,  and  say  that,  until  the  yellow  fever  season  was  over,  he  could 
do  me  and  the  city  no  greater  favor  than  to  prevent  vessels  from  coming 
here. 

"  I  then  put  in  writing,  and  handed  the  consul  my  claim,  that  he  should 
give  a  bill  of  health  to  the  Roanoke  required  by  the  laws  and  regulations 
of  his  government,  regardless  of  my  treatment  of  the  '  Cardenas.' 

"The  interview  here  ended.  The  bill  of  health,  however,  which  was 
given  to  the  Roanoke,  was  such  (although  the  city  was  perfectly  healthy) 
that  her  officers  did  not  dare  to  sail  to  Havana,  lest  they  should  be  held  to 
quarantine  there,  in  a  city  where  the  small-pox  and  yellow  fever  were  both 
raging.  She  was  in  consequence  obliged  to  discharge  her  Havana  passen- 
gers, and  pay  back  the  passage  money. 

"  I  take  leave  here  to  observe  upon  a  remark  of  Mr.  Tarsara,  the  Spanish 
minister,  '  that  I  had  not  the  authority  to  send  out  of  my  lines  the  Spanish 
consul,'  for  so  gross  a  dereliction  of  duty :  in  the  first  place,  that  I  should 
have  done  it,  if  the  occasion  had  called ;  and  that  secondly,  I  know  of  no 
law,  national  or  municipal,  that  requires  the  commander  of  a  captured  city> 
occupied  as  a  military  post,  to  keep  any  person  in  it,  consul  or  other,  who 
is  deliberately  working  to  render  the  place  untenable,  by  keeping  away  sup- 
plies of  provisions  from  it  through  false  reports. 

"  I  wish,  however,  again  to  repeat,  that  subsequent  conversations,  through 


GENERAL    BUTLER   AXD   THE    FOREIGN   CONSULS.  405 

a  more  intelligent  interpreter  in  his  understanding  of  English,  has  convinced 
me  that  the  consul's  remarks  were  misinterpreted  and  mistaken  by  me,  as 
mine  were  by  him.  These  subsequent  explanations  have,  I  believe,  estab- 
lished the  most  cordial  relations  between  us.  I  have  also  learned  that  I 
have  done  Mr.  Oallijon  an  injustice  in  another  respect,  in  supposing  him,  as 
I  was  informed,  to  be  a  Spanish  merchant.  Such  I  am  now  convinced  is 
not  the  case ;  but  that  he  is  a  soldier,  who  has  won  honorable  distinction 
in  the  wars  of  his  country. 

"In  Mr.  Tarsara's  letter  of  complaint,  it  is  alleged  that  I  have  permitted 
the  French  brigantine  'Marie  Felicia,'  and  the  English  schooner  'Virginia 
Antoinette,'  and  other  vessels,  to  come  up  without  the  same  length  of 
quarantine  as  the  '  Cardenas.'  These  facts,  it  is  said,  will  convict  me  of 
capricious  discrimination  against  Spain  in  favor  of  other  European  nations. 
There  is  no  reason  given  why  I  should  be  possessed  of  feelings  which 
would  lead  me  thus  to  discriminate.  Indeed,  if  I  permitted  my  indignation 
and  sense  of  wrong  as  regards  the  manner  in  which  my  government  has 
been  treated  by  other  nations  to  influence  my  official  action,  I  assure  you 
Spain  would  not  be  the  nation  toward  which  these  feelings  would  most 
actively  operate.  On  the  contrary,  I  have  felt  that  the  conduct  of  Spain 
has  been  most  friendly,  especially  taking  in  view  the  wrong  done  her  by 
some  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  in  the  invasion  of  Cuba.  No 
rebel  privateers  have  fitted  out  from  her  ports.  I  have  not  known  that  any 
of  her  islands  have  been  made  arsenals  and  naval  depots  for  the  Confed- 
eracy, and  1  have  yet  to  be  informed  of  any  discrimination  made  by  her  be- 
tween our  armed  vessels  and  those  of  the  enemy.  I  have  ventured  to  say 
thus  much  because,  in  weighing  one's  acts,  motives  are  specially  to  be 
looked  at. 

"  Perhaps,  however,  the  two  cases  of  the  '  Marie  Felicia'  and  the  '  Vir- 
ginia Antoinette'  deserve  a  word  of  comment,  as  they  illustrate  the  animus 
with  which  our  quarantine  has  been  conducted. 

"  The  '  Marie'  having  an  acclimated  crew,  having  been  loaded  at  Havre, 
and  only  touched  at  Havana  without  landing,  was  detained  only  long 
enough  to  examine  her  present  condition  as  to  health,  presuming  that  she 
contained  no  latent  disease  or  malaria  which  develops  itself  by  time.  The 
'  Virginia'  having  only  touched  at  Havana,  was  without  passengers,  and 
laden  wholly  with  loose  salt,  a  powerful  disinfectant  itself.  One  might  as 
Weil  quarantine  a  barrel  of  chloride  of  lime.  And  yet  permitting  this 
schooner  to  come  up  after  twenty  days'  absence  from  the  infected  port,  is 
brought  forward  as  evidence  of  a  'capricious  discrimination  against  the 
Spanish  government.' 

"  Mr.  Tarsara,  in  his  communication  of  the  28th  of  June,  wishes  the  secre- 
tary to  require  me  '  to  treat  the  consuls  of  foreign  nations  with  more  con- 
sideration ;  and  that  I  must  refrain  from  expressions  which  are  not  suited  to 


406       GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS. 

give  security  to  trade  or  maintain  friendly  relations  between  the  authorities 
of  the  Island  and  those  of  the  United  States.' 

"  It  will  be  seen  by  examination  of  the  letter  of  the  commander  of  the 
'Blasco  de  Garay,'  hereto  annexed,  under  date  of  August  13th,  that  he 
complains  that  my  acts  do  not  come  up  to  my  professions  of  friendship  and 
the  courtesies  of  my  language.  I  have,  therefore,  appended  all  of  the  more 
important  of  my  correspondence  with  the  Spanish  authorities  here,  so  that 
the  department  may  see  whether,  either  in  the  manner  or  matter  of  that 
correspondence,  there  is  anything  which  should  be  a  casus  belli  between 
two  otherwise  friendly  nations. 

"That  I  answered  somewhat  sharply  the  letter  of  the  captain  of  the 
'Blasco  de  Garay,'  who  seized  the  occasion  in  replying  to  a  note,  wherein 
I  offered  him  assistance  and  courtesy,  to  read  me  a  lecture  on  my  duties,  I 
admit.     I  thought,  and  still  think,  I  was  justified  in  so  doing. 

"A  nation  may  be  friendly  and  its  consul  quite  the  reverse,  as  witness 
the  late  Prussian  consul,  who  is  now  a  general  in  the  rebel  army,  for  which 
he  recruited  a  battalion  of  his  countrymen. 

"  When,  therefore,  I  find  a  consul  aiding  the  rebels,  I  must  treat  him  as 
a  rebel ;  and  the  exceptions  are  very  few  indeed  among  the  consuls  here. 
Bound  up  with  the  rebels  by  marriage  and  social  relations,  most  of  the 
consular  offices  are  only  asylums  where  rebels  are  harbored  and  rebellion 
fostered. 

"  Before  I  close  this  report,  which  pressure  of  public  duties  more  urgent 
has  delayed  till  the  departure  of  the  mail  on  the  6th  of  October,  allow  me 
to  repeat  that,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  to  whom  our  most  devout  thanks 
are  daily  due  for  His  goodness,  the  fell  scourge,  the  yellow  fever,  has  been 
kept  from  my  command  and  the  city  of  New  Orleans  till  now,  when  all 
danger  is  past,  by  the  firm  administration  of  sanitary  and  quarantine  regu- 
lations, in  spite  of  complaints  and  difficulties ;  and  if  my  acts  need  it,  I 
point  to  the  results  as  an  unanswerable  vindication." 

Here,  I  believe,  we  may  take  leave  of  the  consuls  for  a  while. 
As  time  wore  on,  they  came  to  understand  the  altered  conditions 
of  their  tenure  of  office.  They  learned  that  there  really  was  in  the 
world  such  a  power  as  the  United  States.  They  changed  their  opin- 
ion, too,  of  the  man  who  represented  that  power  in  Xew  Orleans ; 
and  during  the  latter  half  of  General  Butler's  administration,  his 
intercourse  with  them  was  generally  of  the  most  friendly  and  agree- 
able character. 


EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION.  407 

CHAPTER  XXL 

EFFORTS  TOWARD   RESTORATION. 

To  revive  the  business  of  New  Orleans  and  cause  its  stagnant 
life  to  flow  again  in  its  ordinary  channels,  was  among  the  first 
endeavors  of  General  Butler  after  reducing  the  city  to  order  and 
providing  for  its  subsistence.  It  was  necessary,  at  first,  to  compel 
the  opening  of  retail  stores,  by  the  threat  of  a  fine  of  a  hundred 
dollars  a  day  for  keeping  them  closed.  Mechanics  refused  to  work 
for  the  United  States.  Certain  repairs  upon  the  light  steamers, 
essential  to  the  supply  of  the  troops,  could  only  be  got  done  by  the 
threat  of  Fort  Jackson.  One  burly  contractor  was  imprisoned  and 
kept  upon  bread  and  water  till  he  consented  to  undertake  a  piece 
of  work  of  urgent  necessity.  The  cabmen  and  draymen,  as  we 
have  seen,  required  to  be  cajoled  or  impressed.  This  state  of  feel- 
ing, however,  soon  passed  away.  It  was  half  affectation,  half 
terror — the  men  only  needed  such  a  show  of  compulsion  as  would 
serve  them  as  an  excuse  to  their  comrades.  The  ordinary  business 
of  the  city  soon  went  on  as  it  had  before  the  capture.  The  rail- 
roads were  set  running  as  far  as  the  Union  lines  extended. 

"  Will  it  pay  to  run  it  ?"  the  general  would  ask. 

"Yes." 

"  Then  go  ahead." 

So  the  people  trafficked,  and  rode,  and  passed  their  days  as 
they  had  been  wont  to  do  while  under  the  sway  of  Mayor  Monroe, 
General  Lovell,  and  Mr.  Soule.  Perfect  order  generally  prevailed. 
The  general  walked  and  rode  about  the  city  with  a  single  attend- 
ant, by  day  and  by  night.  A  child  could  have  carried  a  purse  in 
its  hand  from  Carrollton  to  Chalmette  without  risk  of  molestation. 

The  commerce  of  the  city  could  not  be  revived  before  the  open- 
ing the  port.  In  one  of  his  earliest  dispatches,  General  Butler 
advised  that  measure,  as  well  as  a  general  amnesty  for  all  past 
political  offenses.  The  planters,  however,  were  distrustful,  and 
feared  to  place  their  sugar  within  reach  of  the  Union  authorities. 

To  remove  then-  apprehensions,  the  following  general  order  was 
ifc^ued : 


408  EFFORTS   TOWAED   EESTOEATION. 

"  New  Oeleaxs,  May  4,  1862. 
"The  commanding  general  of  the  department  having  been  informed  that 
rebellions,  lying  and  desperate  men  have  represented,  and  are  now  repre- 
senting, to  the  honest  planters  and  good  people  of  the  state  of  Louisiana, 
that  the  United  States  government,  by  its  forces,  have  come  here  to  confis- 
cate and  destroy  their  crops  of  cotton  and  sugar,  it  is  hereby  ordered  to  be 
made  known,  by  publication  in  all  the  newspapers  of  this  city,  that  all  car- 
goes of  cotton  and  sugar  shall  receive  the  safe  conduct  of  the  forces  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  boats  bringing  them  from  beyond  the  lines  of  the 
United  States  forces,  may  be  allowed  to  return  in  safety,  after  a  reasonable 
delay,  if  their  owners  so  desire ;  provided,  they  bring  no  passengers  except 
the  owners  and  managers  of  said  boat,  and  of  the  property  so  conveyed,  and 
no  other  merchandise  except  provisions,  of  which  such  boats  are  requested 
to  bring  a  full  supply,  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  of  this  city." 

In  anticipation  of  the  opening  of  the  port  to  northern  trade,  and 
in  order  to  convince  the  holders  of  produce  that  New  Orleans  was 
already  a  safe  market,  the  general  determined,  at  once,  to  com- 
mence the  purchase  and  exportation  of  sugar  on  government  ac- 
count. What  merchants  would  call  a  "brilliant  operation"  was 
the  result  of  his  endeavors.  Lying  at  the  levee  he  had  a  large 
fleet  of  transports,  which,  by  the  terms  of  their  charters,  he  was 
bound  to  send  home  in  ballast.  There  is  no  ballast  to  be  had  in 
New  Orleans  at  any  time,  and  none  nearer  than  the  white  sand  of 
Ship  Island,  five  days'  sail  and  thirty  hours'  steam  from  the  city. 
There  was  sugar  enough  on  the  levee  to  ballast  all  the  vessels,  at 
an  immense  saving  to  the  government,  to  say  nothing  of  the  profit 
to  be  realized  in  the  sale  of  the  sugar  at  the  North.  He  determined 
to  buy  enough  sugar  for  the  purpose. 

To  show  the  wisdom  of  this  measure,  take  the  case  of  the 
steamer  Mississippi,  hired  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars  a 
day.  "  She  must  have,"  explained  the  general,  "  two  hundred  and 
fifty  tons  of  ballast.  To  go  to  Ship  Island  and  have  sand  brought 
alongside  in  small  boats,  will  take  at  least  ten  days ;  to  discharge  the 
same  and  haul  it  away,  will  take  four  more.  Thus,  it  will  cost  the 
government  twenty-one  thousand  dollars  to  ballast  and  discharge 
the  ship  with  sand,  to  say  nothing  of  the  cost  of  taking  the  sand  away, 
or  the  average  delays  of  getting  it,  if  it  storms  at  Ship  Island.  Now, 
if  I  can  get  some  merchant  to  ship  four  hundred  hogsheads  of  su- 
gar in  the  Mississippi  as  ballast,  which  can  be  received  in  two  days 


EFFORTS  TOWARD  RESTORATION.  409 

almost  at  the  wharf  where  she  lies,  and  discharged  in  two  more, 
the  government  will  save  fifteen  thousand  dollars  by  the  difference, 
even  if  it  gets  nothing  for  freight.  But,  by  employing  a  party  to 
get  the  ballast,  see  to  its  shipment,  and  take  charge  of  the  business, 
as  a  ship's  broker,  and  agreeing  to  let  him  have  all  he  can  get  over 
a  given  sum — say  five  dollars  per  hogshead  for  his  trouble  and  ex- 
penses of  lading — the  government  in  the  case  given  will  save  two 
thousand  dollars  more — four  hundred  hogsheads,  at  five  dollars — 
say,  in  all,  seventeen  thousand  dollars." 

It  was  difficult  to  start  the  affair  from  want  of  money.  The  gov- 
ernment had  no  money  then  in  New  Orleans,  and  the  general  had 
none.  By  the  pledge  of  the  whole  of  his  private  fortune  ($150,- 
000),  he  borrowed  of  Jacob  Barker,  the  well-known  banker,  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  gold,  and  with  this  sum  at  command, 
he  proceeded  to  purchase.  Merchants  were  also  permitted  to  send 
forward  sugar  as  ballast,  on  paying  to  the  government  a  moderate 
freight.  The  details  of  this  transaction  were  ably  arranged  by  the 
general's  brother,  a  shrewd  and  experienced  man  of  business,  who 
was  allowed  a  commission  for  his  trouble.  The  affair  succeeded  to 
admiration.  The  ships  were  all  ballasted  with  sugar.  The  govern- 
ment took  the  sugar  bought  by  the  general's  own  money,  and  re- 
paid him  the  amount  expended ;  the  whole  advantage  of  the  oper- 
ation accruing  to  the  United  States.  The  sole  result  to  General  But- 
ler was  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and,  at  a  later  period,  a  great  deal 
of  calumny.  The  owners  of  some  of  the  transports  conceived  the 
idea  that  the  freight  should  be  paid  to  them,  or  at  least  a  part  of  it. 
General  Butler  opposed  their  claims,  and  the  dispute  was  pro- 
tracted through  several  months.  The  captains  of  the  vessels,  I  am 
told,  still  rest  under  the  impression  that  in  some  mysterious  way 
the  general  gained  an  immense  sum  by  this  export  of  sugar.  Mr. 
Chase  knows  better.  He,  if  no  one  else,  was  abundantly  satisfied 
with  the  transaction. 

Having  touched  upon  the  subject  of  the  calumnies  so  assiduously 
circulated  with  regard  to  the  administration  of  General  Butler  in 
New  Orleans,  it  may,  perhaps,  be  as  well  to  add  here  the  little  that 
remains  to  be  said  on  that  edifying  subject. 

First,  let  me  adduce  another  little  operation  which  has  been  con- 
strued to  his  disadvantage.  I  refer  to  a  small  quantity  of  cotton 
sent  home  from  Ship  Island  by  General  Butler,  which  chanced  to 


410  EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION. 

arrive  a  short  time  before  the  papers  that  explained  the  transac- 
tion. 

°  This  cotton,"  wrote  General  Butler  to  the  quartermaster-gen- 
eral, "  was  captured  by  the  navy  on  board  a  small  schooner,  which 
it  would  have  been  unsafe  to  send  to  sea.  I  needed  the  schooner  as 
a  lighter,  and  took  her  from  the  navy.  What  should  be  done  with 
the  cotton  ?  A  transport  was  going  home  empty — it  would  cost 
the  United  States  nothing  to  transport  it.  To  whom  should  I  send 
it  ?  To  my  quartermaster  at  Boston  ?  But  I  supposed  him  on  the 
way  here.  Owing  to  the  delays  of  the  expedition,  I  found  all  the 
quartermaster's  men  and  artisans  on  the  island,  whose  services  were 
indispensable,  almost  in  a  state  of  mutiny  for  want  of  pay.  There 
was  not  a  dollar  of  government  funds  on  the  island.  I  had  seventy- 
five  dollars  of  my  own.  The  sutler  had  money  he  would  lend  on 
my  draft  on  my  private  banker.  I  borrowed  on  such  draft  about 
four  thousand  dollars,  quite  equal  to  the  value  of  the  cotton  as  I 
received  it,  and  with  the  money  I  paid  the  government  debts  to  the 
laborers,  so  that  their  wives  and  children  would  not  starve.  In 
order  that  my  draft  should  be  paid,  I  sent  the  cotton  to  my  cor- 
respondent at  Boston,  with  directions  to  sell  it,  pay  the  draft  out 
of  the  proceeds,  and  hold  the  rest,  if  any,  subject  to  my  order ;  so 
that,  upon  the  account  stated,  I  might  settle  with  the  government. 
What  was  done  ?  The  government  seized  the  cotton  without  a 
word  of  explanation  to  me,  kept  it  until  it  had  depreciated  ten 
per  cent.,  and  allowed  my  draft  to  be  dishonored  ;  and  it  had  to  be 
paid  out  of  the  little  fund  I  left  at  home  for  the  support  of  my 
children  in  my  absence." 

Subsequent  explanations  completely  satisfied  the  government, 
and  the  money  was  refunded. 

As  these  two  transactions  were  the  only  ones  of  a  commercial 
nature  in  which  General  Butler  engaged  while  commanding  the 
Department  of  the  Gulf,  and  the  only  ones,  I  believe,  in  which  he 
was  ever  concerned,  the  reader  now  has  before  him  the  entire  basis 
of  the  huge  superstructure  of  calumny  raised  by  the  malign  persis- 
tence of  rebels  and  their  allies.  Both  of  these  transactions  were 
solely  designed  to  aid  the  work  in  hand,  to  remove  unexpected  ob- 
stacles, to  anticipate  measures  which  the  government  must  instantly 
have  ordered  had  it  been  near  the  scene  of  action. 

But,  as  Mi\  Toodles  remarks,  and  repeats,  "  he  had  a  brother." 


EFFORTS   TOWARD    RESTORATION.  411 

It  is  true,  he  had  a  brother.  He  has  a  brother,  alive  and  flourish 
ing  at  this  moment  in  New  York,  enjoying,  I  trust,  the  fortune 
gained  by  him  in  New  Orleans  during  General  Butler's  admin 
istration. 

When  the  port  was  opened  in  June,  the  condition  of  affairs  was 
such  that  no  man  in  business,  with  either  capital  or  credit  at  com- 
mand, could  fail  to  make  money  with  almost  unexampled  rapidity. 
Turpentine  in  New  Orleans  was  a  drug  at  three  dollars ;  in  New 
York,  it  was  in  demand  at  thirty-eight.  Sugar  in  New  Orleans 
was  worth  three  cents  a  pound ;  in  New  York,  six.  Flour,  in  New 
Y  ork,  six  dollars  a  barrel ;  New  Orleans,  twenty-four.  Dry  goods 
in  New  York  were  selling  at  rates  not  greatly  in  advance  of  prices 
before  the  war ;  in  New  Orleans,  every  article  in  the  trade  was 
scarce  and  dear.  The  rates  of  exchange  were  such  as  to  afford  an 
additional  profit  of  fifteen  per  cent,  on  all  transactions  between  the 
two  ports.  In  such  a  state  of  affairs,  the  most  useful  class  of.  per 
sons  are  those  whom  ignorance  and  envy  stigmatize  as  speculators. 
It  is  they  who  quickly  restore  the  commercial  equilibrium,  who 
raise  the  value  of  commodities  in  one  port  and  reduce  it  in  the 
other,  who  give  New  York  sugar  and  turpentine  which  are  useless 
in  Xew  Orleans,  and  supply  New  Orleans  with  the  means  of  pro- 
curing commodities  essential  to  comfort  and  health.  The  general's 
brother  was  one  of  the  lucky  men  who  chanced  to  be  in  business 
at  New  Orleans  at  the  critical  moment.  An  able  man  of  business, 
with  an  experience  of,  thirty  years,  with  considerable  capital  and 
more  credit,  he  engaged  in  this  lucrative  commerce  with  all  the 
means  and  credit  he  could  command.  His  gains  were  large ;  not 
as  large  as  those  of  some  other  men ;  but  large  enough  to  satisfy  a 
reasonable  ambition.  He  neither  had  nor  needed  any  advantages 
which  were  not  enjoyed  by  other  merchants.  The  anomalous  state 
of  things  was  his  sufficient  opportunity.  A  merchant  u?  half  his 
talent  could  not  have  failed  to  increase  his  capital  with  a  rapidity 
altogether  exceptional.  Later  in  the  year,  came  the  confiscations 
of  rebel  property,  with  frequent  sales  at  auction  of  valuable  com- 
modities. Of  this  business,  too,  he  had  an  ample  share — just  the 
share  his  means  and  talents  entitled  him  to.     No  more  and  no  less. 

It  is  impossible  to  prove  a  negative.    Any  one  can  make  a  vague 
charge  of  corruption,  but  no  man  can  demonstrate  it  to  be  false.     I 
can,  therefore,  only  say,  with  reference  to  these  intangible  accusa 
18 


412  EFFORTS   TOWARD    RESTORATION. 

tions,  that  I  have  now  spent  the  greater  part  of  a  year  surrounded 
by  the  papers,  printed  and  manuscript,  relating  to  General  Butler's 
administration  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf;  I  have  become,  by 
repeated  perusal,  as  familiar  with  those  papers  as  a  lawyer  does  with 
the  documents  of  his  greatest  case ;  I  have  conversed  almost  daily 
with  the  gentlemen  of  stainless  name  and  lineage  who  were  in  the 
closest  intimacy  with  him  during  the  whole  period  of  his  adminis- 
tration, such  as  the  heroic,  lamented  Strong,  beau-ideal  of  gentle- 
man and  soldier,  such  as  Major  Bell,  another  name  for  uprightness ; 
T  have  listened  attentively  to  all  who  had  a  tale  to  tell  against  Gen- 
eral Butler,  and  have  read  the  articles  adverse  to  him  that  have 
appeared  in  the  papers,  and  tried,  in  all  ways,  to  get  hold  of  some 
one  charge  definite  enough  for  investigation ;  and  the  result  of  all 
this  conversation  and  inquiry  has  been  to  produce  in  my  mind 
the  utmost  possible  completeness  of  conviction  that  General  But- 
ler's administration  was  as  pure  as  it  was  able.  Everywhere  in  his 
dispatches  I  find  truth  and  candor — no  suppression,  no  half-truths, 
nothing  designed  to  convey  an  impression  at  variance  with  the 
truth.  I  find  that  men  loved  him  in  proportion  to  their  own  loy- 
alty and  truth.  I  find  his  enemies,  both  there  and  here,  to  be  ene- 
mies of  their  country  and  of  human  rights.  All  the  testimony, 
including  especially  that  of  his  foes,  points  to  one  conclusion — that 
he  was  a  wise,  humane,  and  honest  ruler  of  a  most  perverse  genera- 
tion. 

Corruption  there  was  in  New  Orleans,  as  one  notorious  in- 
dividual can  testify,  who  found  himself  in  the"  penitentiary  one  day, 
sentenced  to  twenty-one  years  at  hard  labor  for  peculating  the 
property  of  the  government.  Power  was  abused  in  New  Orleans, 
as  power  always  is  by  whomsoever  it  is  wielded.  But  it  was  not 
abused  with  the  knowledge  or  consent  of  the  commanding  general, 
nor  were  the  evil-doers  shielded  by  him  from  the  just  penalty  either 
of  crime  or  of  error.  His  rule  in  Louisiana  was  greatly  just  and 
greatly  wise.  It  was  the  harsh  conflict  of  two  antagonistic  civ- 
ilizations, both  imperfect,  one  fatally  so.  It  was  the  sudden  set- 
ting up  of  the  rule  of  justice  in  a  community  which  had  almost  lost 
the  tradition  of  a  just  rule.  It  was  a  bringing  of  the  inflation,  the 
arrogance,  the  meanness,  and  the  falsehood  engendered  by  slavery, 
to  the  test  of  Yankee  common  sense  and  Yankee  common  law. 
From  such  a  conflict  there  must  needs  arise  a  great  outcry.     Some- 


EFF0ETS   TOWAED    EESTOEATION.  413 

body  must  be  hurt.  Every  creature  that  is  hurt,  cries  out  in  the 
language  natural  to  it.  The  natural  language  of  an  "  original 
secessionist,"  damaged  in  a  conflict  with  justice  and  good  sense,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  deprived  of  bowie-knife  and  pistol,  is  calumny  of 
the  man  by  whom  that  justice  and  good  sense  are  brought  to  bear 
upon  his  pretensions.  Falsehood  is  the  element  in  which  those 
unhappy  people  live,  move,  and  have  their  being. 

Every  honest  man  who  served  under  General  Butler  at  New 
Orleans,  and  was  in  a  position  to  observe  his  conduct,  would,  I  be- 
lieve, most  heartily  subscribe  to  the  language  employed  by  Colonel 
S.  H.  Stafford  (1st  La.  N.  G.),  when  refuting  one  of  the  vague,  in- 
coherent slanders  to  which  I  have  referred.  Colonel  Stafford  was 
deputy  provost-marshal  of  New  Orleans,  but  acted  independently 
of  his  chief,  and  communicated  directly  with  the  general.  "  Li 
all  my  intercourse  with  General  Butler,"  he  writes,  "  which,  in  my 
position,  was  to  a  great  extent  confidential,  I  am  bound  to  say,  that 
I  never  saw  anything  that  was  not  upright,  faithful,  and  honest ; 
and  had  he  been  corrupt,  I  believe  I  would  have  seen  the  signs  of 
it.  I  am  proud  to  have  served  under  him,  and  devoutly  wish  he 
was  still  my  commander.  I  believe  that  any  man  that  ever  served 
under  him,  who  does  not  feel  the  same,  is  influenced  in  his  feeling 
and  opinion  by  what  he  may  himself  have  suffered  under  the  inflic- 
tion of  some  just  condemnation." 

But  to  resume.  In  one  particular,  General  Butler's  designs  with 
regard  to  the  commerce  of  New  Orleans  were  baffled.  He  could 
not  get  cotton  in  any  considerable  quantity,  although  it  was  a  con- 
stant object  of  his  endeavors.  The  reason,  as  given  him  by  well- 
informed  Louisianians,  was  this :  About  one-half  of  the  planters  had 
burned  their  cotton,  and  these  men  would  not  permit  their  less 
enthusiastic  neighbors  to  reap  the  advantage  of  their  prudence.  A 
little  cotton  was  procured  from  Mobile,  by  exchanging  one  bale 
of  cotton  for  one  sack  of  salt,  and  a  little  more  was  brought  from 
Texas  by  special  arrangement.  It  can  not  be  said,  however,  that 
the  world's  supply  of  this  commodity  was  much  increased  by  the 
capture  of  New  Orleans.  Perhaps,  two  or  three  thousand  bales 
may  have  been  procured  in  all. 

The  currency  of  New  Orleans  was  in  a  condition  deplorably 
chaotic.  Omnibus  tickets,  car  tickets,  shinplasters  and  Confederate 
notes,  the  last  named  depreciated  seventy  per  cent,  by  the  fall 


414  EFFORTS    TOWARD   RESTORATION. 

of  the  city,  were  the  chief  medium  of  exchange.  The  coin  had 
been  removed  from  the  vaults  of  the  banks  to  a  place  within  the 
Confederate  lines,  except  that  part  of  it  which  was  deposited 
in  the  consulates.  In  compliance  with  the  entreaties  of  Mr.  Soule, 
and  with  the  obvious  necessities  of  the  situation,  General  Butler 
had  permitted  the  temporary  circulation  of  Confederate  notes  ;  but 
as  this  concession  was  known  to  be  but  temporary,  it  did  not  ma- 
terially enhance  the  value  of  that  spurious  currency.  The  banks 
had  been  growing  rich  upon  the  traffic  in  Confederate  paper, 
bought  at  a  discount,  paid  out  at  par.  When  most  other  invest- 
ments were  unproductive,  bank  shares  had  yielded  large  dividends. 
Until  September,  1861,  as  many  readers  remember,  the  banks  of 
New  Orleans  had  held  aloof  from  the  practical  support  of  the  Con- 
federacy, had  refused  to  suspend  specie  payments,  and  had  trans- 
acted only  a  legitimate  business.  At  that  time,  however,  a  threat 
of  "  harsh  measures"  from  the  Richmond  government  gave  to  some 
of  the  banks  the  pretext  which  they  coveted  for  abandoning  the 
honest  course,  and  the  rest  were  compelled  to  follow  the  bad  exam- 
ple. Thenceforward,  business  in  Louisiana  was  done  in  Confede- 
rate notes,  and  the  paper  of  the  banks  was  Httle  seen  in  circulation. 
The  consequences  of  the  sudden  depreciation  of  those  notes  may 
be  readily  imagined.  As  the  offer  of  the  city  to  redeem  the  notes 
was  not  fulfilled,  they  remained  almost  the  sole  medium  of  exchange 
in  the  hands  of  the  people. 

Such  a  state  of  things  obviously  demanded  the  prompt  interfe- 
rence of  the  commanding  general.  The  series  of  bold,  original  and 
masterly  measures  by  which  General  Butler,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
weeks,  gave  to  New  Orleans  a  currency  as  sound  and  convenient 
as  that  of  New  York  and  Boston,  merits  the  reader's  particular 
attention. 

There  was  one  redeeming  fact  in  the  financial  condition  of  the 
city  to  serve  as  a  fulcrum  to  the  general's  lever.  Most  of  the  banks 
(all  of  them  but  three)  were  solvent  and  strong.  True,  their  coin 
was  gone,  but  it  was  not  supposed  to  be  lost.  Granting  the  coin 
to  be  safe,  the  banks  were  able  to  redeem  their  circulation,  and 
safely  afford  the  city  the  currency  it  needed.  It  required  ail  the 
general's  intimate  knowledge  of  banking,  and  all  the  force  of  his 
will,  to  bring  the  banks  to  perform  this  duty  ;  but  after  a  struggle 
against  manifest  destiny,  they  all  submitted. 


EFFORTS   TOWARD    RESTORATION.  415 

The  banks,  I  may  premise,  were  anxious  respecting  the  safety  of 
their  coin.  After  a  conference  with  the  general  on  the  subject,  an 
important  favor  was  asked  him  in  writing  by  two  gentlemen  repre- 
senting the  banking  interest.  "  We  understood  you  to  say,"  wrote 
these  gentlemen,  May  13th,  "that  you  were  disposed  to  reaffirm 
the  declaration  made  in  your  first  proclamation,  that  private  prop- 
erty of  all  kinds  should  be  respected.  You  added  that  if  the  treas- 
ure withdrawn  by  the  banks  should  be  restored  to  their  vaults, 
you  would  not  only  abstain  from  interference,  but  that  you  would 
give  it  safe  conduct,  and  use  all  your  power  individually,  as  well  as  of 
the  forces  of  the  United  States  under  your  command,  for  its  protec- 
tion ;  that  the  question  as  to  the  proper  time  of  the  resumption  of 
specie  payments  should  be  left  entirely  to  the  judgment  and  discre- 
tion of  the  banks  themselves,  with  the  understanding  on  your  part 
and  ours  that  the  coin  should  be  held  in  good  faith  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  bill-holders  and  depositors.  On  their  part  the  banks 
promised  to  act  with  scrupulous  good  faith  to  carry  out  their  un- 
derstanding with  you ;  that  is,  to  restore  a  sound  currency  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  to  provide  for  the  resumption  of  regular  business 
as  soon  as  the  exigencies  of  our  trade  require  it.  You  are  aware 
that  a  large  portion  of  the  coin  of  the  banks  is  beyond  their  control, 
and  that  we  can  only  promise  to  use  our  best  exertions  for  its  re- 
turn. Should  we  fail,  we  will  immediately  advise  you  of  the  fact. 
In  the  mean  time,  we  request  of  you  the  favor  to  give  us  the  author- 
ity to  bring  back  the  treasure  within  your  lines,  with  the  safe  con- 
duct of  the  same  from  that  point  to  this  city." 

The  general's  reply  was  as  follows : 

'1Head-qttaeteks,  Depaetment  of  the  Gulf, 
u  New  Orleans,  May  14,  18G2. 

"  Messieurs  : — I  have  given  very  careful  consideration  to  the  matter  of 
the  communication  handed  me  through  you  from  the  banks  of  the  city. 
"With  a  slight  variation,  to  which  1  call  your  attention,  you  were  correct  in 
your  understanding  of  the  interview  had  by  me  with  the  banks.  Specie  or 
bullion  in  coin  or  ingots,  is  entitled  to  the  same  protection  as  other  property 
under  the  same  uses,  and  will  be  so  protected  by  the  United  States  forces 
under  my  command. 

"  If,  therefore,  the  banks  bring  back  their  specie  which  they  have  so  un- 
advisedly carried  away,  it  shall  have  safe  conduct  through  my  lines,  and  be 
fully  protected  here  so  long  as  it  is  used  in  good  faith  to  make  good  the  ob- 
ligations of  the  banks  to  their  creditors  by  bills  and  deposit. 


4lfi  EFFORTS   TOWARD    RESTORATION. 

"Now,  as  in  the  present  disturbed  state  of  the  public  mind,  specie,  if 
paid  out,  would  be  at  once  hoarded,  I  am  content  to  leave  the  time  of  re- 
demption of  their  bills  to  the  good  judgment  of  the  banks  themselves,  gov- 
erned in  it  by  the  analogy  of  the  laws  of  the  state  and  the  fullest  good  faith. 
Indeed,  the  exercise  of  that  on  both  sides  relieves  every  difficulty,  and  ends 
at  once  all  negotiations. 

"  In  order  that  there  may  be  no  misunderstanding,  it  must  be  observed 
that  I  by  no  means  mean  to  pledge  myself  that  the  banks,  like  other  per- 
sons, shall  not  return  to  the  United  States  authorities  all  the  property  of 
the  United  States  which  they  may  have  received.  I  come  to  retake,  repos- 
sess, and  occupy,  all  and  singular,  the  property  of  the  United  States  of  what- 
ever name  and  nature.  Farther  than  that  I  shall  not  go,  save  upon  the 
most  urgent  military  necessity,  under  which  right  every  citizen  holds  all 
his  possessions.  But  as  any  claim  which  the  United  States  may  have 
against  the  banks  can  easily  be  enforced  against  the  personal  as  well  as  the 
property  of  the  corporations,  such  claims  need  not  enter  into  this  discus- 
sion in  such  form.  Therefore,  as  in  good  faith  safe  conducts  may  be  need- 
ed for  agents  of  banks  to  go  and  return  with  the  property,  and  for  no  other 
purpose  whatever,  such  safe  conducts  will  be  granted  for  a  limited  but  rea- 
sonable period  of  time. 

"  Personal  illness  has  caused  the  slight  delay  which  has  attended  this 
reply.     I  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  (Signed),  Benj.  F.  Butlee,  Major- General  Commanding. 

"Messieurs  William  N".  Mercee,  J.  M.  Lepatee,  Committee.'''' 

No  safe  conducts  were  required  for  the  treasure.  Memminger, 
the  secretary  of  the  rebel  treasury,  refused  to  give  it  up.  "  The 
coin  of  the  banks  of  New  Orleans,"  he  wrote,  July  6th,  "  was 
seized  by  the  government  to  prevent  it  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
public  enemy.  It  has  been  deposited  in  a  place  of  security,  under 
charge  of  the  government ;  and  it  is  not  intended  to  interfere  with 
the  rights  of  property  in  the  banks  farther  than  to  insure  its  safe 
custody.  They  may  proceed  to  conduct  their  business  in  the  Con- 
federate States  upon  this  deposit,  just  as  though  it  were  in  their 
own  vaults." 

The  banks  then  endeavored  to  get  both  governments  to  consent 
to  their  sending  the  coin  to  Europe  during  the  war ;  and  General 
Butler  rather  favored  the  scheme,  provided  a  European  government 
would  take  it  in  charge.  The  plan  failed,  however,  to  gain  appro- 
val ;  and  the  general  consented  to  permit  the  banks  to  do  business 
upon  the  basis  of  the  absent  coin,  "just  as  though  it  was  in  their 


EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION.  417 

own  vaults."     Unless  he  had  done  this,  his  whole  scheme  of  reform- 
ing the  currency  must  have  failed. 

General  Butler's  first  financial  measure  was  to  suppress  the  Con- 
federate notes.  At  the  beginning  of  the  third  week  of  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  city,  the  following  general  order  appeared: — 

"New  Orleans,  May  16,  1862. 

"I.  It  is  hereby  ordered  that  neither  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  nor  the 
banks  thereof,  exchange  their  notes,  bills,  or  obligations  for  Confederate 
notes,  bills,  or  bonds,  nor  issue  any  bill,  note,  or  obligation  payable  in  Con- 
federate notes. 

"  II.  On  the  27th  day  of  May  inst.,  all  circulation  of,  or  trade  in,  Con- 
federate notes  and  bills  will  cease  within  this  department ;  and  all  sales  or 
transfers  of  property  made  on  or  after  that  day,  in  consideration  of  such 
notes  or  bills,  directly  or  indirectly,  will  be  void,  and  the  property  confis- 
cated to  the  United  States,  one-fourth  thereof  to  go  to  the  informer." 

Great  was  the  agitation  in  bank  parties  upon  the  day  this  order 
was  promulgated.  At  once  the  question  arose,  Who  is  to  bear  the 
loss,  the  banks  or  the  public?  The  banks  had  no  doubts  upon 
the  subject.  The  newspapers  of  the  next  morning  contained  a  long 
string  of  short  advertisements,  which  agreeably  diversified  the 
usual  uniformity  of  the  advertising  columns.  The  following  may 
serve  as  specimens : 

"  All  parties  having  deposits  of  Confederate  notes  with  us  are  hereby 
notified  to  withdraw  them  prior  to  the  27th  inst.  Such  balances  as  may  not 
be  withdrawn  will  be  considered  at  the  risk  of  the  owners,  and  held  sub- 
ject to  their  order." 

"  Jtjdson  &  Co.,  corner  of  Camp  and  Canal  streets." 

"  Banking  House  of  Sam'l  Smith  &  Co., 
"New  Orleans,  May  19,  1862. 
"  All  persons  having  deposited  Confederate  notes  in  this  banking-house 
are  notified  to  withdraw  them  before  the  27th  inst.     Such  balances  as  may 
not  then  be  withdrawn  will  be  considered  at  the  risk  of  the  owners." 

"Sam'l  Smith  &  Co." 

"  Bank  of  America, 
"  New  Orleans,  May  19,  1862. 
"All  persons  having  deposits  of  Confederate  notes  in  this  bank  are  noti- 


•3:18  EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION. 

fied  to  withdraw  them  by  the  25th  inst.     Such  balances  as  may  not  then  bo 
withdrawn  will  be  considered  at  the  risk  of  the  owners. 

"  0.  Cavaeoc,  Cashier  pro  tern." 

"Merchants'  Bank, 
"New  Oeleans,  May  19,  1862. 
"  This  bank  is  prepared  to  pay  balances  in  Confederate  notes,  which  must 
be  drawn  before  the  27th  inst. 

"  War  S.  Mount,  Cashier:' 

"Union  Bank  of  Louisiana, 
"New  Orleans,  May  17,  1862. 
"  Notice. — All  persons  having  deposits  of  Confederate  notes  in  this  bank 
are  notified  to  withdraw  them  prior  to  the  27th  inst.    Such  balances  as  may 
not  be  withdrawn  will  be  considered  at  the  risk  of  the  owners. 

"  Geo.  A.  Feeeet,  Cashier" 


The  "banks,  therefore,  were  resolved  to  throw  the  entire  mass  of 
the  Confederate  currency  upon  the  impoverished  people.  They  had 
introduced  that  currency,  grown  rich  upon  it,  received  it  at  par ; 
and  now,  when  it  was  nearly  worthless,  they  designed  to  escape 
the  entire  loss  of  the  depreciation.  Every  one  outside  of  the  banks 
was  in  consternation.  The  people  knew  not  what  to  do.  If  they  with- 
drew their  deposits,  they  would  receive  sundry  pieces  of  valueless 
printed  paper.  If  they  did  not,  the  deposits  were  "at  their  own 
risk" — a  phrase  of  fearful  import  at  such  a  time.  What  rendered 
the  course  of  the  banks  the  more  exasperating  was  the  fact,  that  a 
great  and  wealthy  corporation,  professing  an  entire  faith  in  the  ulti- 
mate triumph  of  the  Confederacy,  could  afford  to  hold  Confederate 
paper,  while  a  poor  trader  in  New  Orleans  would  be  ruined  by 
the  suspension  of  his  little  capital. 

The  anger  of  General  Butler  was  kindled.  He,  the  "  enemy," 
was  striving  night  and  day  to  save  the  people  of  New  Orleans  from 
starvation,  and  restore  the  business  of  the  city  to  life.  They,  the 
fellow-citizens  of  those  people,  thought  only  of  saving  their  ill- 
gotten  wealth.  In  the  course  of  the  day  upon  which  the  bank 
advertisements  appeared,  he  penned  his  famous  General  Order 
No.  30,  which  was  published  in  the  papers  of  the  following 
morning : 


EFFORTS   TOWARD    RESTORATION.  419 

"New  Orleans,  May  19,  1862. 

"  It  is  represented  to  the  commanding  general  that  great  distress,  priva- 
tion, suffering,  hunger  and  even  starvation  has  been  brought  upon  the  peo- 
ple of  New  Orleans  and  vicinage  by  the  course  taken  by  the  banks  and 
dealers  in  currency. 

"  He  has  been  urged  to  take  measures  to  provide,  as  far  as  may  be,  for 
the  relief  of  the  citizens,  so  that  the  loss  may  fall,  in  part,  at  least,  on  those 
who  have  caused  and  ought  to  bear  it. 

"  The  general  sees  with  regret  that  the  banks  and  bankers  causelessly 
suspended  specie  payments  in  September  last,  in  contravention  of  the  laws 
of  the  state  and  of  the  United  States.  Having  done  so,  they  introduced 
Confederate  notes  as  currency,  which  they  bought  at  a  discount,  in  place 
of  their  own  bills,  receiving  them  on  deposit,  paying  them  out  for  their  dis- 
counts, and  collecting  their  customers'  notes  and  drafts  in  them  as  money, 
sometimes  even  against  their  will,  thus  giving  these  notes  credit  and  a  wide 
general  circulation,  so  that  they  were  substituted  in  the  hands  of  the  mid- 
dling men,  the  poor  and  unwary,  as  currency,  in  place  of  that  provided  by 
the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  country,  or  of  any  valuable  equivalent. 

"  The  banks  and  bankers  now  endeavor  to  take  advantage  of  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  the  authority  of  the  United  States  here,  to  throw  the  deprecia- 
tion and  loss  from  this  worthless  stuff  of  their  creation  and  fostering  upon 
their  creditors,  depositors  and  bill-holders. 

"  They  refuse  to  receive  these  bills  while  they  pay  them  over  their  coun- 
ters. 

"  They  require  their  depositors  to  take  them. 

"They  change  the  obligation  of  contracts  by  stamping  their  bills,  're- 
deemable in  Confederate  notes.' 

"  They  have  invested  the  savings  of  labor  and  the  pittance  of  the  widow 
in  this  paper. 

u  They  sent  away  or  hid  their  specie,  so  that  the  people  could  have  noth- 
ing but  these  notes,  which  they  now  depreciate — with  which  to  buy  bread. 

"  All  other  property  has  become  nearly  valueless  from  the  calamities  of 
this  iniquitous  and  unjust  war  begun  by  rebellious  guns,  turned  on  the  flag 
of  our  prosperous  and  happy  country  floating  over  Fort  Sumter.  Saved 
from  the  general  ruin  by  the  system  of  financiering,  bank  stocks  alone  are 
now  selling  at  great  premiums  in  the  market,  while  the  stockholders  have 
received  large  dividends. 

"  To  equalize,  as  far  as  may  be,  this  general  loss ;  to  have  it  fall,  at  least 
in  part,  where  it  ought  to  lie ;  to  enable  the  people  of  this  city  and  vicinage 
to  have  a  currency  which  shall  at  least  be  a  semblance  to  that  which  the 
wisdom  of  the  constitution  provides  for  all  citizens  of  the  United  States,  it 
is  therefore 

"  Ordered:  1.  That  the  several  incorporated  banks  pay  out  no  more  Con- 
18* 


420  EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION. 

federate  notes  to  their  depositors  or  creditors,  but  that  all  deposits  be  paid 
in  the  bills  of  the  bank,  United  States  treasury  notes,  gold  or  silver. 

"II.  That  all  private  bankers,  receiving  deposits,  pay  out  to  their  deposi- 
tors only  the  current  bills  of  city  banks,  or  United  States  treasury  notes, 
gold  or  silver. 

"III.  That  the  savings  banks  pay  to  their  depositors  or  creditors  only 
gold,  silver,  or  United  States  treasury  notes,  current  bills  of  city  banks,  or 
their  own  bills,  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  one-third  of  their  deposits,  and 
of  denomination  not  less  than  one  dollar,  which  they  are  authorized  to  issue 
and  for  the  redemption  of  which  their  assets  shall  be  held  liable. 

"  IV.  The  incorporated  banks  are  authorized  to  issue  bills  of  a  less  de- 
nomination than  five  dollars,  but  not  less  than  one  dollar,  anything  in  their 
charters  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  and  are  authorized  to  receive  Con- 
federate notes  for  any  of  their  bills  until  the  27th  day  of  May  inst. 

"  V.  That  all  persons  and  firms  having  issued  small  notes  or  '  shinplas- 
ters,'  so  called,  are  required  to  redeem  them  on  presentation  at  their  places 
of  business,  between  the  hours  of  9.  a.  m.  and  3  p.  m.,  either  in  gold,  silver, 
United  States  treasury  notes,  or  current  bills  of  city  banks,  under  penalty 
of  confiscation  of  their  property  and  sale  thereof,  for  the  purpose  of  redemp- 
tion of  the  notes  so  issued,  or  imprisonment  for  a  term  of  hard  labor. 

"  VI.  Private  bankers  may  issue  notes  of  denominations  not  less  than  one 
nor  more  than  ten  dollars,  to  two-thirds  of  the  amount  of  specie  which  they 
show  to  a  commissioner  appointed  from  these  head-quarters,  in  their  vaults, 
actually  kept  there  for  the  purpose  of  redemption  of  such  notes." 

So  the  game  of  the  banks  was  "  blocked."  The  relief  afforded 
to  the  people  by  the  publication  of  this  order  was  such,  that,  as  a 
secessionist  remarked  to  one  of  the  general's  staff,  it  was  equivalent 
to  a  reinforcement  of  twenty  thousand  men  to  the  Union  army. 
Union  men  in  New  Orleans  say,  that  nothing  but  the  continual 
bad  news  from  General  McClellan's  army  in  the  peninsula  pre- 
vented this  measure  from  causing  an  open  and  general  manifesta- 
tion of  Union  feeling  among  the  respectable  traders  of  the  city. 
But  the  impression  could  not  be  removed  from  the  minds  of  the 
people,  while  such  intelligence  kept  coming,  that  the  stay  of  the 
army  would  be  but  short ;  and  every  man  feared  to  commit  him- 
self to  a  course  that  would  invite  the  vengeance  of  the  returning 
Confederates. 

All  the  banks  submitted  in  silence,  except  one — the  Bank  of 
Louisiana.  I  think  I  must  afford  space  for  the  following  curious 
correspondence  that  passed  between  that  institution  and  General 
Butler : 


EFFOETS   TOWAED   EESTO RATION.  421 

THE   BANK   TO    GENERAL   BTJTLEE. 

"No.  148  Canal  Street,  May  21,  1862. 

"  Sie  : — The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Bank  of  Louisiana  held  a  special 
meeting  this  morning,  in  order  to  take  into  consideration  your  Order  No. 
SO.  The  meeting  was  full,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  member;  for  all 
were  impressed  with  the  gravity  of  the  question  about  to  be  submitted. 

•'  The  result  of  their  deliberation  was  the  adoption  of  certain  resolutions, 
which  I  have  now  the  honor  to  submit  to  you. 

11  At  the  same  time  I  Avas  instructed  to  make  a  few  observations  in  ex- 
planation of  their  course,  and  especially  to  disclaim  and  disavow  the  justice 
of  any  imputation  affecting  their  rectitude,  integrity  or  honor.  Asa  proof 
of  their  confidence  in  their  disinterestedness,  they  invite  the  most  searching 
examination  of  all  their  books,  including  the  minutes  of  their  proceedings, 
and  of  every  act  of  their  administration,  even  their  private  accounts  with 
the  bank,  by  any  competent  person  whom  you  may  select  for  that  purpose ; 
and  they  are  willing  to  abide  the  result,  either  as  officials  or  as  individuals. 

"  In  the  discharge  of  their  difficult  and  delicate  duties,  knowing  and  feel 
ing  that  their  intentions  were  pure  and  upright,  they  have  an  abiding  con- 
fidence of  their  exculpation  from  the  influence  of  all  sordid  or  selfish 
motives. 

"If  required,  I  will  wait  on  you  and  afford  every  explanation  in  my 
power. 

"  I  have  the  honor,  &c,  &c, 

"  TV.  Newton  Meecee,  President  pro  tern. 

"Major-General  Butler,  U.  8.  A.,  &c. 

"  Note. — Of  the  capital  stock  of  the  bank — 28,000  shares — the  directors 
own  about  one-tenth.    To  the  bank  they  owe  nothing." 

RESOLUTIONS    OF   THE    DIRECTORS. 

"Bank  of  Louisiana,  May  21,  1862. 

"  As  this  bank  is  unable  to  comply  with  the  conditions,  and  act  under  the 
restrictions  imposed  upon  it  by  Order  No.  30,  issued  by  General  Butler,  and 
as  imputations  have  been  cast  upon  the  conduct  and  characters  of  its  di- 
rectors, 

"  Therefore,  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  General  Butler  be  invited  to 
appoint  some  competent  person,  in  whom  he  has  confidence,  to  examine 
thoroughly  the  condition  of  this  bank  since  its  suspension  of  specie  pay- 
ments, as  well  as  the  action  of  its  directors  since  the  1st  day  of  September 
last. 

"  That  the  cashier  be  instructed  to  give  to  General  Butler's  agent,  if  one 
be  appointed,  every  facility  for  such  an  examination  of  all  its  books,  papers, 


422  EFFORTS  TOWARD   RESTORATION. 

vaults,  desks  and  drawers,  and  to  afford  him  every  information  touching 
the  administration  of  this  bank  during  the  period  already  mentioned,  to- 
gether with  an  inspection  of  the  private  accounts  of  the  directors. 

"  That,  in  the  mean  time,  till  General  Butler's  final  determination  he  as- 
certained, the  operations  of  the  bank  must  necessarily  be  suspended,  as  it 
has  in  its  possession  none  of  its  own  issue  and  only  a  very  small  amount 
of  coin. 

"I  certify  that  the  action  above  mentioned  was  held  this  morning  by 
the  Bank  of  Louisiana. 

"W.  Newton  Meecee,  President  pro  tern. 

"New  Oeleans.  May  21, 1862." 

geneeal  butler  to  the  bank. 

Head-quarters,  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
"New  Orleans,  May  22,  1862. 
"  W.  Newton  Meeoeb,  Esq.,  President  of  the  Bank  of  Louisiana : 

"  Sie  : — I  have  received  your  communication,  covering  the  unanimous 
action  of  the  directors  of  the  Bank  of  Louisiana.  To  their  request,  that  1 
would  appoint  a  commission  to  examine  the  affairs  of  the  bank,  I  can  not 
accede.  With  the  mismanagement,  or  the  contrary  of  the  bank,  I  have 
nothing  to  do,  except  so  far  as  either  affects  the  interest  of  the  United 
States. 

"  The  assigned  reason  for  the  call  for  this  examination,  that  '  the  integ- 
rity and  good  faith  of  the  directors  have  been  impugned,'  will  not  move 
me,  if  it  refer  to  General  Order  No.  30,  which  speaks  of  acts  and  facts,  not 
motives. 

"  Your  note  says,  that  the  directors  own  but  one-tenth  of  the  capital 
stock  of  the  bank.  Without  consulting  the  owners  of  the  other  nine-tenths— 
nearly  three  millions  of  dollars — this  one-tenth  took  this  immense  weahh 
from  its  legal  place  of  deposit,  and  sent  it  flying  over  the  country  in  company 
with  fugitive  property  burners,  among  the  masses  of  a  disorganized,  retreat- 
ing, and  starving  army,  whence  it  is  more  than  likely  never  to  return. 
Again ;  the  time  it  would  take  to  make  an  investigation,  which  would  show 
the  good  management,  to  say  nothing  of  the  purity  of  motive  of  such  a  trans- 
action, can  not  be  spared  by  any  officer  of  my  command.  Ex  uno  disce 
ovines. 

"  The  directors  of  the  bank  of  Louisiana  have  all  seen  General  Order  No. 
»S0,  and  have  acted  upon  it  as  a  corporation.     So  your  note  shows. 

"  They  will  now  advise  themselves  whether  they  will  act  in  accordance 
with  its  requirements  upon  their  corporate  and  individual  peril,  and  inform 
me,  within  six  hours  after  the  receipt  of  this,  of  their  determination. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"B.  F.  Btttlee." 


EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION.  423 


THE  BANK   TO   GENEBAL  BTTTLEB. 


"Bane  of  Louisiana, 
"New  Obleans,  May  22,  1862. 
"  To  Major-General  B.  F.  Btttlee,  Commanding  Department  of  the  Gulf : — 

"Sir: — I  have  received  your  communication  of  this  day  in  answer  to  my 
letter  accompanying  the  proceedings  of  the  directors  of  this  bank. 

"  The  board  of  directors  were  immediately  summoned  to  a  special  meet- 
ing ;  and  as  you  leave  no  alternative  but  compliance  with  your  mandate, 
they  will  conform  to  Order  No.  30. 

"  Eespectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  W.  Newton  Meeceb,  President  pro  tem" 

The  bank,  however,  was  still  disposed  to  be  contumacious.  Mr. 
Durand  had  deposited  in  the  bank  Confederate  notes,  when  Con- 
federate notes  were  money ;  lie  demanded  the  amount  of  his  de- 
posit in  something  that  was  money  then — the  notes  of  the  bank, 
for  example.  The  bank,  "  to  make  a  case,"  refused,  and  Mr.  Du- 
rand brought  suit  in  the  provost  court,  where  Major  Bell  decided 
in  his  favor,  and  ordered  the  bank  to  comply  with  his  demand. 
The  bank  appealed  from  this  decision  to  the  general  commanding, 
who  sustained  the  judgment  of  the  court.  Law  papers  are  not 
generally  considered  to  be  very  entertaining ;  but  General  Butler's 
decision  in  this  case  will  be  found  an  exception  to  the  rule  : 

"  Head-qttaetees,  Depaetment  of  the  Gulf, 
"  New  Orleans,  La.,  June,  1862. 

"  In  the  matter  of  the  appeal  of  W.  N.  Mercer,  president,  and  Auguste 
Montreuil,  cashier,  of  the  Bank  of  Louisiana,  defendants,  from  the  judg- 
ment of  the  provost  court,  upon  the  complaint  of  A.  Durand,  complainant. 

uThis  is  an  application  by  the  defendants  representing  the  bank,  made 
to  the  general  commanding,  asking  him  to  revise  and  set  aside  the  judg- 
ment of  the  provost  court,  made  in  favor  of  the  plaintiff,  Durand. 

"  It  is  based  upon  the  legal  theory,  that  over  all  matters  within  garrison, 
camp,  and  perhaps  geographical  military  department,  wherein  martial 
law  has  been  declared,  the  power  of  the  commanding  general  is  absolute ; 
and  that,  looking  at  him  as  the  representative  of  the  martial  power  of  the 
government  here,  all  applications  for  redress  must  be  made  when  any 
wrong  is  supposed  to  have  been  done. 

"  This  view  being  sound,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  I  have,  with  the  best  thought 
possible  under  the  circumstances,  re-examined  the  case  and  the  reasons  as- 
signed for  the  appeal. 

"  Error  is  claimed  on  two  grounds :  first,  that  the  provost  court  had  no 


424  EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION. 

jurisdiction  of  the  cause  ;  and  second,  that  the  judgment  was  not  in  accord- 
ance with  the  law  which  should  govern  its  decision. 

"  The  argument  assumes  that  law  to  be  General  Order  No.  30,  and  does 
not  dispute  the  authority  which  made  or  the  effect  of  that  order,  but  con- 
tents itself  with  endeavoring  to  construe  the  order. 

"  The  objection  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  is  put  upon  two  grounds  : 
first,  that  the  provost  court  has  not  jurisdiction  of  the  subject-matter ;  sec- 
ond, that  the  proper  parties  were  not  before  it,  so  as  to  enable  it  to  act 
with  regard  to  the  rights  of  those  who  were  not  summoned  in  the  case. 

"  It  is  said  that  this  question,  being  one  of  a  right  of  property,  can  not  be 
entertained  by  a  court  which  only  acts  to  punish  the  infractions  of  military 
orders  and  police  regulations. 

"  A  technical  answer  to  this  objection,  which  is  in  the  nature  of  a  plea 
to  the  jurisdiction,  would  be  that  it  does  not  appear  that  this  plea  was  put 
in  till  after  the  hearing  upon  the  merits.  It  is  a  familiar  rule  that  a  party 
shall  not  be  allowed  to  go  into  court  and  have  a  hearing  on  his  case,  take 
the  chances  of  a  decision  in  his  favor,  and  then,  if  adverse,  repudiate  the 
court  before  which  he  has  appeared,  and  to  whose  judgment  he  has  sub- 
mitted his  cause.  This  rule  has  been  held  very  strictly,  both  as  to  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  subject-matter  and  the  parties.  But  in  a  court  where  no 
technical  rules  are  allowed  to  work  injustice,  a  technical  answer  is  not  suf- 
ficient. 

"  Of  what,  then,  do  the  defendants  complain  ?  The  bank  says  the  court 
has  made  an  order  which  takes  away  the  property  of  the  bank,  and  gives  it 
to  another,  and  that  the  court  has  no  power  so  to  act.  But  is  that  so  ?  Is 
it  not  the  commanding  general's  order  which  does  that  of  which  complaint 
is  made  ?  The  bank  nowhere  complains  that  the  general  has  not  the  pow- 
er to  make  such  an  order,  if  in  his  judgment  it  become  a  military  necessity, 
and  that  some  order  on  the  subject-matter  was  so,  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  the  first  question  put  to  him,  upon  entering  the  city,  was — what  cur- 
rency would  be  provided  for  the  people,  to  save  them  from  starvation  and 
bread-riots  ?  It  has  passed  into  history  that  he  permitted  a  vicious  currency 
as  a  medium  of  circulation  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  this  exigency. 

"  Again,  it  will  be  remembered  that  the  bank  now  claims  that  it  is  ex- 
empted from  the  effects  of  this  order,  because,  \>y  order  of  another  military 
commander  in  September  last  (there  was  no  civil  law  for  it),  it  was  obliged 
to  suspend  specie  payment,  against  its  will,  and  substitute  Confederate  notes 
for  its  daily  currency,  instead  of  its  own  bills.  This  order  was  submitted 
to,  if  not  with  joy,  at  least  not  under  protest,  so  far  as  I  am  informed. 

"  The  order,  as  well  as  the  law  of  the  land,  then,  is  that  the  bank  shall 
pay  its  depositors  in  gold,  silver  coin,  and  United  States  treasury  notes,  or 
its  own  bills.  A  citizen  complains  that  this  order  of  the  commanding 
general  has  not  been  obeyed,  to  his  prejudice. 


EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION.  425 

"For  what,  then,  is  a  provost  court,  in  military  phrase,  constituted? 
Confessedly,  to  inquire  into,  determine,  and  punish  the  infraction  of  mili- 
tary orders. 

"  To  do  tiiis,  the  court  must  act  in  rem  as  well  as  in  personam.  A  famil- 
iar example  would  he,  if  the  commanding  general  orders  all  arms  to  be 
given  up,  and  some  citizen  neglects  or  refuses  to  obey,  would  it  not  be 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  a  provost  court,  although  its  judgment  should  act 
upon  a  right  of  property  involving  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  muskets  ? 

"  If  the  act  brought  before  the  court,  therefore,  is  alleged  to  be  an  in- 
fraction of  a  military  order,  it  is  determinable  in  a  military  court.  Again, 
it  is  said  that  the  court  has  not  jurisdiction  because  the  stockholders  of  the 
bank  were  not  summoned  in  and  made  parties,  and  that  their  rights  and 
interests  will  be  affected  by  the  decision.  This  is  all  true.  But  did  the 
learned  counsel  for  the  bank  ever  hear  of  a  suit  against  a  bank,  in  any 
court,  where  the  stockholders  were  summoned  in,  unless  it  was  sought  to 
charge  them  individually,  which  is  not  the  case  here  ?  A  corporation  acts 
through  its  authorized  agents,  and  is  bound  by  their  acts,  and  is  to  be 
charged  upon  notice  to  them.  This  objection  of  want  of  sufficient  power 
in  the  president  and  directors  of  the  Bank  of  Louisiana  to  pay  the  deposit 
of  Mr.  Dnrand  in  their  own  bills,  which  is  only  changing  the  form  of  in- 
debtedness from  a  depositor  to  a  bill-holder,  under  the  order  of  the  provost 
court,  without  the  consent  of  their  stockholders,  would  provoke  a  smile  in 
a  less  serious  discussion,  when  we  remember  that  this  same  board  of  direc- 
tors, without  asking  leave  of  their  stockholders,  against  law  and  right,  put 
three  million  dollars  of  its  bullion  out  of  their  hands  and  out  of  the  state, 
whence  they  will  probably  never  see  it  again. 

"  I  am  of  opinion  that  these  objections  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court 
are  untenable. 

"  The  other  objection,  as  to  the  merits  of  the  decision,  can,  it  seems  to 
me,  be  disposed  of  in  a  word.  If  the  order  is  a  proper  one,  it  must  be 
obeyed.  Its  propriety  can  not  be  discussed  by  me.  It  is  admitted  that 
Dnrand  is  a  depositor  in  the  bank  of  what  the  bank  chose  to  take  as 
money — treated  as  money — credited  to  him  as  money — nay,  forced  upon 
the  community  as  money.  He  has  not  been  paid  his  deposit.  The  bank 
should  pay  him  in  specie.  The  decision,  following  the  letter  of  the  order, 
is  that  the  bank  may  give  him  their  own  bills  instead  of  money.  Of  that 
decision  the  bank  has  no  cause  to  complain.  Durand  is  now  the  creditor 
of  the  bank  as  a  depositor.  The  decision  makes  him  their  creditor  as  a 
bill-holder.  In  equity  they  have  nothing  to  complain  of — he  may  have, 
because  he  does  not  get  his  gold,  to  which  by  the  laws  of  banking,  laws  of 
the  state  and  the  United  States,  he  is  entitled. 

M  He  does  not  seek  to  reverse  the  decision.     Let  it  stand. 

"Benj.  F.  Butlee,  Major- General  Commanding." 


426  EFFORTS   TOWARD    RESTORATION. 

Confederate  notes  disappeared  from  circulation.  Bank-notes 
and  green-backs  took  their  place.  A  few  weeks  later,  the  omnibus 
tickets  and  shinplasters  were  replaced  by  small  notes  issued  by 
Governor  Shepley  and  the  city  government.  Thus,  the  currency 
of  the  city  was  completely  restored. 

General  Butler  required  from  the  banks  a  monthly  report  of 
their  transactions  and  their  condition.  Two  of  them,  which  he 
ascertained  to  be  hopelessly  insolvent,  he  ordered  to  be  closed  and 
to  go  into  liquidation.  Another,  which  was  weak,  he  caused  to  be 
strengthened.  His  later  intercourse  with  the  officers  of  the  banks, 
was  more  amicable  than  at  first.  They  were  surprised  to  find  that 
a  major-general  of  volunteers  was  as  much  at  home  in  their  own 
province  as  if  he  had  spent  his  life  in  a  banking-house. 

An  anecdote  from  the  Delta  will  serve  to  show  how  the  general's 
order  secured  the  rights  of  enemies  as  well  as  friends: 

"Among  the  rebel  prisoners  taken  the  other  day  was  an  officer, 
whom  we  shall  call  Captain  Johnson.  He,  before  going  to  the  war. 
had  deposited  three  hundred  dollars  in  the  Bank  of  Commerce. 
Upon  his  return  to  the  city  upon  parole,  he  called  at  the  bank  to 
inquire  about  his  funds.  After  much  fumbling,  it  was  admitted 
that  he  had  deposited  the  sum  named. 

"'Well,'  said  he,  'I  want  it.' 

*  *  "Thereupon  he  was  reminded  that  he  had  made  his  deposit 
in  Confederate  notes. 

" '  Very  true,'  he  replied,  '  but  at  that  time  Confederate  notes 
were  current  and  valuable.' 

" '  Oh,'  muttered  the  banker,  '  I  must  give  it  to  you  in  the  cur- 
rency in  which  you  deposited.' 

"  'But,'  said  the  captain,  'Confederate  notes  are  worthless  now.' 

"  The  banker  was  firm,  and  the  captain  retired.  He  called  the 
next  day  and  renewed  his  demand  for  his  money.  He  was  told,  as 
before,  that  he  must  take  Confederate  notes. 

"  '  I  suppose  I  must,'  observed  the  Confederate  captain. 

"  The  banker  paused,  and  then  inquired  :  '  But  what  can  you  do 
with  Confederate  notes  ?  They  are  worthless  here,  and  it  is  against 
the  law  to  pass  them.' 

'"That's  just  what  I  have  been  telling  you,'  said  the  captain; 
"but  since  you  wifl  not  give  me  anything  else,  I  presume  I  had 
better  take  Confederate  notes.' 


EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION.  42) 

"'Yes,  yes,  yes,  yes,'  nervously  spluttered  the  banker;  'but 
what  can  you  do  with  Confederate  notes  ?' 

" '  Well,'  replied  Johnson,  '  I  will  tell  you  squarely  what  I  will 
do.  I  will  take  them  to  General  Butler  and  try  to  get  gold  for 
them.' 

"  Upon  this,  the  banker  counted  out  three  hundred  dollars  in 
United  States  treasury  notes,  and  Captain  Johnson  retired." 

Some  stern  retributory  measures  remained  to  be  enforced  against 
the  banks  of  New  Orleans.  The  following  general  order  was  is- 
sued early  in  June : 

"New  Oeleans,  June  6,  1862. 
"Any  person  who  has  in  his  possession,  or  subject  to  his  control,  any 
property  of  any  kind  or  description  whatever,  of  the  so-called  Confederate 
States,  or  who  has  secreted  or  concealed,  or  aided  in  the  concealment  of 
such  property,  who  shall  not,  within  three  days  from  the  publication  of  this 
order,  give  full  information  of  the  same,  in  writing,  at  the  head-quarters  of 
the  military  commandant,  in  the  Custom-House,  to  the  assistant  military 
commandant,  Godfrey  Weitzel,  shall  be  liable  to  imprisonment  and  to  have 
his  property  confiscated." 

This  order,  being  interpreted,  signified  (among  other  things),  that 
whatever  sums  of  money  might  be  standing  upon  the  books  of  the 
banks  in  the  name  of  the  rebel  government,  were  now  the  property  of 
the  United  States ;  which  property  the  banks  would  please  prepare 
to  surrender.  The  order  was  promptly  obeyed.  That  this  measure 
may  be  completely  understood,  I  will  present  here  the  response  of 
one  of  the  banks  to  the  order,  and  the  general's  characteristic  reply 
to  the  same. 

the  citizens'  bank  to  genebal  bijtlee. 

"Citizens'  Bank  of  Louisiana, 
"New  Oeleans,  June  11,  1862. 
"Major-General  B.  F.  Btjtlek,  commanding  at  New  Orleans  : 

"  Geneeal  : — In  obedience  to  your  General  Order  No.  40,  1  beg  to  inform 
you  that  on  the  first  of  May  last,  there  was  to  the  credit  of  the  treasurer 
of  the  Confederate  States  in  this  bank  the  sum  of  $219,090.94 ;  and  also  on 
special  account  the  farther  sum  of  $12,465  ;  and  this  bank  holding  a  larger 
amount  in  the  notes  of  the  Confederate  treasury,  an  equivalent  amount  in 
said  treasury  notes  has  been  set  aside,  and  is  now  held  by  the  bank,  to  offset 
the  above  stated  amount,  and  which  notes  I  will  return  as  the  property  of 
the  Confederate  States  under  your  order. 


428  EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION. 

"  Also,  one  small  tin  box,  marked  '  Oonf.  States  District  Court.' 
"  The  following  named  parties  have  also  to  their  credit  on  deposit  these 
sums,  viz: 

J.  M.  Huger,  Confederate  States  Eeceiver, $106,812.60 


72,084.90 
1,120.00 

16,026.52 

6,814.57 

476.30 


G.  W.  Ward,  "  " 

J.  C.  Manning,  "  " 

Major  M.  L.  Smith,  "  " 

Major  Macklin,  "  " 

Major  Eeichard,        "  " 

"  As  the  deposits  by  the  receivers  were  made  in  this  bank  by  virtue  of 
an  order  of  the  Confederate  court,  in  accordance  with  the  act  of  congress, 
they  were  to  that  extent  compulsory  on  the  receivers  as  well  as  on  the 
banks.  To  have  refused  to  comply  with  the  mandate  of  that  court,  might 
have  brought  both  parties  into  conflict  with  the  constituted  authorities  for 
the  time  being. 

"  All  the  above-mentioned  deposits  were  made  in  the  currency  of  the 
Confederate  government  by  its  appointed  officers. 

"  Had  the  bank  resumed  specie  payment  or  become  bankrupt  in  the  mean 
time,  those  depositors  would  have  had  no  claim  to  the  coin  or  to  a  pro  rata 
distribution  of  the  other  assets  of  the  bank.  They  could  only  have  claimed 
the  currency  deposited  by  them,  and  hence  it  may  be  classed  in  reality  as 
special  deposits  of  Confederate  funds,  payable  in  same,  in  accordance  with 
the  contracts  and  understanding  at  the  time.  Under  these  circumstances, 
the  bank  appeals  to  General  Butler's  sense  of  equity  and  justice  to  allow 
these  deposits  to  be  paid  to  whom  it  may  concern  in  the  same  currency  in 
which  they  were  received. 

"  Some  time  during  the  month  of  November  last,  an  order  of  sequestra- 
tion was  issued  to  the  marshals  of  the  Confederate  States  to  take  charge  of 
the  assets  of  the  Bank  of  Kentucky,  then  held  by  this  Bank  in  the  usual 
course  of  business. 

"The  assets  have  never  been  removed  from  the  bank,  yet  still  are  nomi- 
nally beyond  its  control. 

"  I  therefore  respectfully  request  from  the  commanding  general  an 
order  to  refund  to  the  Kentucky  bank,  the  owners  of  said  assets,  that 
the  accounts  may  be  made  out  accordingly  and  a  due  return  forwarded  to 
them. 

"  The  banks  were  informed  of  the  seizure  of  their  assets  at  the  time, 
and  one  of  them,  the  Bank  of  Kentucky,  had  a  resident  agent  here  at  that 
time. 

"  "With  great  respect, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"James  D.  Denegke,  President" 


EFFORTS   TOWARD    RESTORATION.  429 

general  butler  to  the  citizens'  bank, 

"  Head-qttabteks,  Department  of  the  Gtjlf, 
"New  Orleans,  June  lBth,  1862. 

"The  return  of  the  Citizens'  Bank  of  New  Orleans  to  General  Order 
No.  40,  has  been  carefully  examined,  and  the  various  claims  set  up  by  the 
bank  to  the  funds  in  its  hands  weighed. 

"  The  report  finds  that  there  is  to  the  credit  of  the  Confederate  States 
$210,090.9-1. 

"  This  of  course  is  due  in  presenti  from  the  bank.  The  bank  claims  that 
it  holds  an  equal  amount  of  Confederate  treasury  notes,  and  desires  to  set 
off  these  notes  against  the  amount  so  due  and  payable. 

"  This  can  net  be  permitted.  Many  answers  might  be  suggested  to  the 
claim.     One  or  two  are  sufficient. 

"  Confederate  States  treasury  notes  are  not  due  till  six  months  after  the 
conclusion  of  a  treaty  of  peace  between  the  Confederate  States  and  the 
United  States.  When  that  time  comes  it  will  be  in  season  to  set  off  suet, 
claims.  Again  :  The  United  States  being  entitled  to  the  credits  due  the  Con- 
federate States  in  the  bank,  that  amount  must  be  paid  in  money  or  valuable 
property. 

"  I  can  not  recognize  the  Confederate  notes  as  either  money  or  property. 
The  bank  having  done  so  by  receiving  them,  issuing  their  banking  upon 
them,  loaning  upon  them,  thus  giving  them  credit  to  the  injury  of  the  United 
States,  is  estopped  to  deny  their  value. 

"  The  '  tin  box'  belonging  to  an  officer  of  the  supposed  Confederate  States, 
being  a  special  deposit,  will  be  handed  over  (to  me)  in  bulk,  whether  it9 
contents  are  more  or  less  valuable. 

"  The  bank  is  responsible  only  for  safe  custody.  The  several  deposits  of 
the  officers  of  the  supposed  Confederate  States  were  received  in  the  usual 
course  of  business ;  were,  doubtless,  some  of  them,  perhaps  largely,  received 
in  Confederate  notes  ;  but,  for  the  reason  above  stated,  can  only  be  paid  to 
the  United  States  in  its  own  constitutional  currency.  These  are  in  no  sense 
of  language  '  special  deposits.' 

"  They  were  held  in  general  account,  went  into  the  funds  of  the  bank, 
were  paid  out  in  the  discounts  of  the  bank,  and  if  called  upon  to-day  for  the 
identical  notes  put  into  the  bank,  which  is  the  only  idea  of  a  special  deposit, 
the  bank  would  be  utterly  unable  to  produce  them. 

"As  well  might  my  private  banker,  with  whom  I  have  deposited  my 
neighbor's  check  or  draft  as  money,  which  has  been  received  as  money,  and 
paid  out  as  money,  months  afterward,  when  my  neighbor  has  become  bank- 
rupt, buy  up  other  of  his  checks  and  drafts  at  discount,  and  pay  them  to 
me  instead  of  money,  upon  the  ground  that  I  had  made  a  special  deposit. 

u  The  respectability  of  the  source  from  which  the  claim  of  the  bank  pro- 
ceeds alone  saves  it  from  ridicule. 


430  EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION. 

H  The  United  States  can  in  no  form  recognize  any  of  the  sequestrations  01 
confiscations  of  the  supposed  Confederate  States;  therefore,  the  account* 
with  the  Bank  of  Kentucky  will  be  made  up,  and  all  its  property  will  be 
paid  over  and  delivered,  as  if  such  atttempted  confiscation  had  never  been 
made. 

"  The  result  is,  therefore,  upon  the  showing  of  the  bank  by  its  return, 
that  there  is  due  and  payable  to  the  Confederate  States,  and  therefore,  now 
to  be  paid  to  the  United  States,  the  sums  following  : — 

Confederate  States  treasurer's  account $219,090.94 

"  "         special  accounts 12,465.00 

Deposits  by  officers 

J.  M.  Huger,  receiver 106,812.60 

G.  M.  Ward  " 72,084.90 

J.  C.  Manning      "      1,120.00 

$411,573.44 

M.  L.  Smith  16,026.52 

S.  Macklin  "        6,814.57 

Eeichard  "      497.30 

Total $434,911.83 

u  This  is  the  legal  result  to  which  the  mind  must  arrive  in  this  discus- 
sion. 

"But  there  are  other  considerations  which  may  apply  to  the  first  item  of 
the  account. 

"  Only  the  notes  of  the  Confederate  States  were  deposited  by  the  treasurer 
in  the  bank,  and,  by  the  order  of  the  ruling  authority  then  here,  the  bank 
was  obliged  to  receive  them. 

"  In  equity  and  good  conscience,  the  Confederate  States  could  call  for 
nothing  more  than  they  had  compelled  the  bank  to  take. 

"  The  United  States  succeed  to  the  rights  of  the  Confederate  States,  and 
should  only  take  that  which  the  Confederate  States  ought  to  take. 

"  But  the  United  States,  not  taking  or  recognizing  Confederate  notes,  can 
only  leave  them  with  the  bank,  to  be  held  by  it  hereafter  in  special  deposit, 
as  so  much  worthless  paper. 

"  Therefore,  I  must  direct  all  the  items  but  the  first  to  be  paid  to  my 
order  for  the  United  States,  in  gold,  silver,  or  United  States  treasury  notes 
at  once.  The  first  item  of  $219,090.94,  I  will  refer  to  the  home  govern- 
ment for  adjudication ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  the  bank  must  hold,  as  a 
special  deposit,  the  amount  of  Confederate  treasury  notes  above  mentioned, 
and  a  like  amount  of  bullion  to  await  the  decision. 

"Benjamin  F.  Butler, 

"  Major-  General  Commanding." 


.EFFORTS   TOWARD    RESTORATION.  431 

A  few  days  after,  General  Butler  had  the  pleasure  of  sending  to 
Mr.  Chase  the  sum  of  8245,700,  the  amount  of  Confederate  funds 
given  up  by  the  several  banks.  "  This,"  remarked  the  general,  "  will 
make  a  fund  upon  which  those  whose  property  has  been  confiscated 
may  have  claim."  The  "home  government"  took  its  time  over  the 
item  of  $219,090.94.  The  matter  had  not  been  decided  when 
General  Butler  left  the  Department. 

Another  act  of  justice  remained  to  be  done  by  the  banks  and 
other  dividend-paying  corporations  of  New  Orleans.  Witness  the 
following  order : 

*  New  Obleaxs,  July  9,  1862. 
"  All  dividends,  interests,  coupons,  stock-certificates,  and  accruing  inter- 
est, due  any  or  payable  by  any  incorporated  or  joint-stock  company,  to  any 
citizen  of  the  United  States ;  and  any  notes,  dues,  claims,  and  accounts  of 
any  such  citizen,  due  from  any  such  company,  or  any  private  person  or  com- 
pany within  this  department,  which  have  heretofore  been  retained  under 
any  supposed  order,  authority,  act  of  sequestration,  garnishee  process,  or  in 
any  way  emanating  under  the  supposed  Confederate  States,  or  the  state  of 
Louisiana,  since  the  fraudulent  ordinance  of  secession,  are  hereby  ordered  to 
be  paid  and  delivered  respectively  to  the  lawful  owners  thereof,  or  their 
duly  authorized  agents." 

This  order  restored  to  many  citizens  of  the  northern  states  a 
portion  of  their  annual  income  which  they  had  long  ago  given  up 
as  lost.  Nor  was  this  all.  The  mercantile  debts  were  extracted 
from  such  of  the  debtors  as  had  not  squandered  all  their  property. 
The  papers  before  me  show  that  there  was  an  active  business  done, 
at  this  time,  in  compelling  the  payment  of  sums  due  to  northern 
creditors.  The  ingenious  devices  of  the  repudiators  to  avoid  or 
postpone  the  agony  of  disgorging,  were  numerous  and  sometimes 
successful.  The  usual  issue  of  the  struggle,  however,  was  a  short, 
sharp  order  from  the  general :  Pay  instanter,  or  be  sold  up  !  The 
individual,  I  observe,  who  repudiated  a  debt  of  $20,000  to  General 
Anderson,  of  Fort  Sumter  celebrity,  was  one  of  those  upon  whose 
property  General  Butler  laid  his  retributive  hand. 

Direct  efforts  were  systematically  made,  during  the  whole  period 
of  General  Butler's  rule,  to  promote  Union  feeling.  Union  clubs 
were  encouraged.  The  "Union  Ladies' Association"  for  clothing 
the  children  of  volunteers,  held  frequent  meetings.     The  fourth  of 


432  EFFORTS   TOWARD    RESTORATION. 

July  was  celebrated  with  all  possible  eclat.  There  were  numerous 
flag-raisings.  Union  meetings  were  often  held,  addressed  by  the 
orators  both  of  the  army  and  of  the  city.  The  general  caused  to 
be  cut  deep  into  the  granite  base  of  the  statue  of  General  Jackson, 
the  motto  originally  designed  to  adorn  it : 

"  The  Union — it  Must  and  Shall  be  Preserved." 

Much  good  was  done  by  these  efforts.  Seed  was  sown  which 
might  have  borne  glorious  fruit  when  the  success  of  the  Union 
arms  had  given  the  Union  men  of  the  city  an  assurance  of  safety. 

New  Orleans,  during  the  administration  of  General  Butler,  pos- 
sessed, for  the  first  time  in  its  history,  a  court  of  justice  in  which  it 
was  possible  for  justice  to  be  done.  A  code  of  law  which  excludes 
from  the  witness-box  the  very  class  who  are  the  most  likely  to  be 
the  witnesses  of  crime,  and  against  whom  the  greatest  number  of 
crimes  are  committed,  banishes  justice  from  the  land  in  which  it 
exists.  One  of  Major  Bell's  first  decisions  in  the  provost  court 
placed  white  men  and  black  men  upon  an  equality  before  the  law. 
A  hunker  democrat  did  this  glorious  thing  !  A  negro  was  called  to 
the  witness-stand. 

" I  object,"  said  the  counsel  for  the  prisoner  ;  "by  the  laws  of 
Louisiana  a  negro  can  not  testify  against  a  white  man." 

"  Has  Louisiana  gone  out  of  the  Union  ?"  asked  Major  Bell,  with 
that  imperturbable  gravity  of  his,  that  veils  his  keen  sense  of 
humor. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  lawyer. 

"  "Well,  then,"  said  the  judge,  "  she  took  her  laws  with  her. 
Let  the  Man  be  Sworn!" 

Immortal  words  !  From  that  moment  dates  the  renovation  of 
Louisiana ! 

Again.  Henry  Dominique,  a  free  man  of  color,  was  arrested  for 
not  having  free  papers.  The  prisoner  could  only  protest  that  he 
was  a  free  man.  The  court  decided,  that  every  man  must  be  pre 
sumed  to  be  free  until  the  contrary  was  shown.  Dominique  was 
discharged. 

Major  Bell's  court  was  among  the  lions  of  the  town.  During  a 
considerable  part  of  General  Butler's  stay,  he  administered  all  the 
justice  that  was  done  in  New  Orleans,  according  to  the  forms  of  a 
court.     He  decided  all  cases,  from  a  street  broil  to  questions  of 


EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION.  433 

constitutional  law,  from  petty  larency  to  high  treason,  from  matri- 
monial squabbles  to  suits  for  divorce.  He  would  dispose  of  fifteen 
cases  in  thirty  minutes.  An  hour  was  a  long  trial.  He  was  pes- 
tered, at  first,  with  malicious  suits,  to  avenge  injuries  committed 
before  the  capture  of  the.  city — a  kind  of  case  that  sometimes  re- 
sulted in  penalties  to  both  parties  ;  often  er  in  a  prompt  dismissal 
of  both  from  the  court.  Suits  of  the  most  frivolous  character  were 
brought  before  him.  One  morning,  two  women  presented  them- 
selves, each  to  prefer  a  complaint  against  the  other. 

"  Stand  there,"  said  he  to  one  of  them.  "  Stand  there,"  to  the 
other.     "  Now  both  speak  at  once,  and  talk  for  five  minutes." 

Two  torrents  of  vituperation  poured  from  the  two  mouths.  The 
judge  kept  his  eye  upon  his  watch,  and  at  the  end  of  the  time,  said  : 

"  Now,  both  of  you  go  home  and  behave  yourselves." 

The  women  departed  with  evident  satisfaction ;  they  had  relieved 
their  minds. 

Some  of  the  cases  demanded  an  intimate  knowledge  of  local  law. 
For  example  :  Major  Bell  observed  a  colored  woman  hanging 
about  his  office  for  several  successive  days,  in  evident  distress  of 
mind.  He  asked  her,  one  day,  what  she  wanted.  She  said  that 
all  her  goods  had  been  seized  by  her  landlord  for  rent,  though  she 
had  paid  the  rent  and  had  his  receipt.  It  was  another  tenant  of 
the  same  house,  she  said,  who  was  delinquent,  and  had  moved 
away  in  the  night,  leaving  her  goods  liable  to  seizure.  The  landlord 
being  summoned,  admitted  the  truth  of  the  woman's  story,  and 
pointed  out  the  old  statute  which  gave  landlords  the  right  to  seize 
any  property  in  his  house  for  unpaid  rent.  Major  Bell  read  this 
astonishing  statute,  and  was  compelled  to  admit  that  the  landlord 
had  the  law  on  his  side.  He  remonstrated  with  him,  however,  and 
pointed  out  the  cruel  injustice  which  he  had  committed  in  seizing 
the  property  of  an  honest  woman.  The  man  was  surly,  and  said 
that  all  he  wanted  was  the  law.  The  law  gave  him  the  goods  and 
he  meant  to  keep  them.  Major  Bell  was  posed.  He  scratched  his 
wise-looking  head.     Suddenly,  he  had  an  idea. 

"  Are  you  a  free  woman?"  he  asked  the  complainant. 

"  No,"  said  she,  "  I  belong  to ." 

"  Sir,"  said  the  judge  to  the  landlord,  "  another  statute  requires 
the  written  consent  of  the  owner  before  a  tenement  can  be  let  to  a 
slave.     Produce  it." 


434  EFFORTS   TOWAED    RESTORATION. 

The  man  had  forgotten  this  statute.  He  could  not  produce  the 
document. 

"Take  your  choice,"  said  Major  Bell;  "either  give  hack  the 
woman's  property  or  pay  the  fine." 

The  man  preferred  to  restore  the  goods,  and  the  poor  washer- 
woman was  saved  from  ruin. 

"  Master,"  said  she,  with  the  eloquence  of  perfect  gratitude,  "  if 
you  get  the  yellow  fever,  send  for  me,  and  I'll  come  and  take  care 
of  you." 

Among  the  many  able  men  who  surrounded  General  Butler,  no 
one  labored  more  assiduously  or  more  effectively  in  the  service  of 
the  people  of  New  Orleans  than  Major  Bell.  He  had  to  ransack  all 
books  and  all  the  by-ways  of  his  memory  for  law  and  precedent  to 
guide  him  in  his  novel  situation.  French  law,  Spanish  law,  admi- 
ralty law,  the  slave  code,  state  law,  municipal  law,  common  law, 
were  all  laid  under  contribution  ;  and  when  these  failed  to  meet  the 
case,  he  drew  upon  the  ample  resources  of  his  own  common  sense. 
I  should  add,  that  during  his  midsummer  absence  from  the  city,  his 
seat  was  worthily  filled  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Kinsman,  the  Lieu- 
tenant Kinsman  of  previous  pages.  Both  of  these  officers  were  much 
indebted  to  the  local  and  legal  knowledge  of  the  clerk  of  the  pro- 
vost court,  Mr.  Samuel  F.  Glenn,  formerly  a  member  of  the  bar  of 
Newr  Orleans. 

A  government  needs  a  government  organ.  During  the  month 
of  May,  several  of  the  newspapers  of  New  Orleans  were  suspended 
by  orders  from  head-quarters.  They  published  the  most  extrava- 
gant rumors  of  federal  disasters,  and  closed  their  columns  against 
the  true  intelligence.  Their  comments  hovered  upon  the  verge  of 
treason,  and,  not  unfrequently,  passed  beyond  the  verge.  A  sud- 
den order  to  suspend  would  bring  them  to  a  sense  of  the  anoma- 
lous situation ;  they  would  promise  submission  ;  and  were  generally 
allowed  to  resume  publication  in  a  day  or  two.* 

*  "  Head-quarters,  Department  of  the  Gcxp, 
"  New  Orleans,  Sept.  5th,  1S62. 
"It  haring  been  made  to  appear  that  the  suppression  of  the  '•Estafette  du  Sud,"1  French  news- 
paper, will  work  distress  among  the  employes  of  the  office  who  are  faultless,  and  the  proprie- 
tors having  assured  the  United  States  authorities  that  nothing  shall  be  published  that  is  offensive 
or  inimical,  or  in  any  way  reflecting  upon  the  United  States  or  its  authorities, — the  publication, 
upon  this  pledge,  is  permitted  to  be  resumed  at  the  instance  of  the  acting  French  consul,  M. 
Fauconnett. 

"  By  order  of  Majob-G-eneeaj,  Butj^eb. 

"A.  F.  i'GFFEB,  Ueutenant  and  A.  D.  G" 


EFFORTS   TOWARD   RESTORATION.  435 

One  of  these  newspapers,  the  Delta,  noted  for  the  virulence  of 
its  treason,  was  otherwise  treated.  The  office  was  seized,  and  per- 
manently held.  Two  officers,  experienced  in  the  conduct  of  news- 
papers, Captain  John  Clark,  of  Boston,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  E. 
M.  Brown,  of  the  Eighth  Vermont,  were  detailed  to  edit  the  pa- 
per in  the  interest  of  the  United  States.  The  first  number  of  the 
regenerated  Delta  appeared  on  the  24th  of  May,  1862,  and  it  con- 
tinued under  the  same  direction  until  the  8th  of  February,  1863. 
It  was  conducted  with  very  great  ability  and  spirit.  Besides  the 
labor  of  the  editors,  it  had  the  advantage  of  occasional  contribu- 
tions from  Major  Bell  and  other  officers;  the  commanding  general 
himself  frequently  giving  it  the  aid  of  his  suggestions.  Several 
ladies  of  New  Orleans  contributed.  One  of  them,  Mrs.  Taylor,  who 
adopted  the  signature  of  "Nellie,"  wrote  many  lively  satirical 
sketches,  which  greatly  amused  the  readers  of  the  paper,  besides 
calling  forth  the  exertions  of  other  ladies  of  similar  character.  In 
one  feature  the  Delta  differed  strikingly  from  the  ordinary  newspa- 
pers of  the  South.  Your  true  southerner,  your  "original  secession- 
ist," is  a  very  serious  personage.  Vanity  of  the  intenser  sort  is  a 
serious  foible ;  proud  ignorance  is  serious ;  cruelty  is  serious ;  one- 
idea  is  serious.  There  is  no  joke  in  your  true  southerner ;  and  as  a 
consequence,  his  newspaper  is  generally  a  grave  and  heavy  thing, 
enlivened  only  by  vituperation  and  ferocity.  The  sport-impulse 
comes  of  an  excess  of  strength.  The  man  of  true  humor  is  so  much 
the  master  of  his  subject  that  he  can  play  with  it,  as  the  strong  man 
of  the  circus  plays  with  cannon-balls.  The  regenerated  Delta  was 
one  of  the  most  humorous  of  newspapers.  Almost  every  issue  had 
its  good  joke,  and  a  great  many  of  its  jocular  paragraphs  were 
exceedingly  happy  hits. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  secession  songs  ano  secession 
sentiments  taught  to  the  children  of  the  public  schools.  The 
schools  were  dismissed  for  the  summer  vacation  two  weeks  earlier 
than  usual,  and  during  the  interval  the  school  system  was  re- 
organized on  the  model  of  that  of  Boston.  A  bureau  of  educa- 
tion and  a  superintendent  of  public  schools  were  appointed — good 
Union  men,  all.  The  old  teachers  were  dismissed,  and  a  corps, 
true  to  their  country,  selected  in  their  stead.  School-books  tainted 
with  treason  and  pro-slavery  were  banished,  and  were  replaced  by 
such  as  are  used  in  northern  schools — Union  song-books  not  being 
10 


436  EFFECT    OF  THE   FAILURE   IN    VIRGINIA. 

forgotten.  The  new  system  worked  well,  and  continues,  to  this 
day,  to  diffuse  sound  knowledge  and  correct  sentiments  among  the 
people  of  New  Orleans. 

Such  were  some  of  the  measures  of  the  commanding  general,  de- 
signed to  restore  Louisiana  to  a  degree  of  its  former  prosperity 
and  good  feeling.  They  were  as  successful  as  the  circumstances  of 
the  time  permitted.  The  levee  showed  some  signs  of  commercial 
activity.  The  money  distributed  by  the  army  gave  life  to  the 
retail  trade.  The  poorer  classes  were  won  back  to  a  love  for  the 
power  which  protected  and  sustained  them.  The  original  seces- 
sionists were,  are,  and  will  ever  be,  there  and  everywhere,  the 
bitter  foes  of  the  United  States;  but,  among  those  who  had  re- 
luctantly accepted  secession  because  they  supposed  it  inevitable, 
the  general  and  the  Union  gained  hosts  of  friends,  who  remain 
to  this  day,  in  spite  of  •much  discouragement,  loyal  to  the  gov- 
ernment. 


CHAPTER    XXn. 

THE   EFFECT   IN  NEW    ORLEANS    OF    OUR   LOSSES   IN  VIRGINIA. 

The  Union  army  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  consisted  of 
about  fourteen  thousand  men,  and  the  disasters  in  Virginia,  which 
increased  a  hundred-fold  the  difficulty  of  holding  New  Orleans, 
forbade  the  re-enforcement  of  that  army.  Ship  Island,  Fort  Jackson, 
Fort  St.  Philip,  Baton  Rouge,  posts  Upon  the  lakes  and  elsewhere, 
required  strong  garrisons,  which  reduced  the  effective  men  in  and 
near  the  city  to  a  number  inadequate  to  a  successful  defense  of  the 
place  against  such  an  attack  as  might  be  expected.  General  Butler 
was  perfectly  aware  that  the  recovery  of  the  city  was  an  object 
which  the  rebels  had  distinctly  proposed  to  themselves.  It  was  the 
real  aim  of  all  that  series  of  movements  of  which  the  attack  upon 
Baton  Rouge,  by  Breckinridge,  was  the  most  conspicuous.  The 
general's  excellent  spy  system  brought  him  this  information,  and 
most  of  his  own  measures  were  more  or  less  influenced  by  it. 


EFFECT    OF   THE   FAILURE   IN   VIRGINIA.  437 

One  powerful  iron-clad  ram  could  have  cleared  the  river  in  an 
hour  of  the  Union  fleet.  That  done,  the  city  might  have  fallen 
before  the  well-concerted  attack  of  a  force  such  as  the  rebels  were 
known  to  be  able  to  assemble.  They  could  not  have  held  the  city 
long ;  but  they  might  have  taken  it,  and  held  it  long  enough  to 
do  infinite  mischief;  or  they  might  have  necessitated  its  destruc- 
tion. 

The  temper  of  the  secessionists  in  New  Orleans  was  the  worst 
possible.  Liars  are  generally  credulous.  At  least,  they  are  easily 
made  to  believe  lies,  though  they  find  it  so  difficult  to  receive  the 
truth.  The  news  from  Virginia  would  have  sufficed  to  neutralize, 
for  a  time,  the  general's  best  measures,  even  if  it  had  come  with- 
out exaggerations.  But  news  from  Virginia  uniformly  came  first 
through  rebel  sources  by  telegraph,  while  the  truth  arrived  only 
after  a  long  sea  voyage.  To  show  the  effect  of  this  inflammatory 
intelligence,  take  one  incident  as  related  by  an  officer  of  General 
Butler's  staff: 

"As  a  result  of  this  continuous  report  of  national  defeats  before 
Richmond,  St.  Charles  street,  near  the  hotel,  was  yesterday  (July 
10th)  the  scene  of  violence  and  threatening  trouble.  A  young  woman 
dressed  in  white  and  of  handsome  personal  appearance,  about  10 
o'clock,  passed  by  the  hotel,  wearing  a  secession  badge.  She  finally 
insulted  one  of  our  soldiers,  and  was  arrested  by  a  policeman,  who 
attempted  to  take  her  to  the  mayor's  office.  As  a  matter  of 
course,  there  was  instantly  a  scene  of  confusion,  as  she  had  selected 
the  time  when  she  would  find  the  most  obnoxious  secessionists 
parading  the  vicinity.  Upon  reaching  the  building  next  to  the 
Bank  of  Orleans,  she  theatrically  appealed  to  the  crowd  for  pro- 
tection, and  the  next  moment  the  policeman  was  knocked  down, 
and  a  shot  was  fired  out  of  the  store,  and  wounded  the  soldier 
assisting  the  civil  officer.  Thereupon  a  hundred-  persons,  returned 
soldiers  of  Beauregard's  army,  cried  murder,  and  one  of  the 
national  officers  at  the  same  moment  fired  at  the  assassin  who 
wounded  the  soldier.  In  the  confusion  the  murderers  escaped,  but 
the  woman,  together  with  some  of  her  most  prominent  sym- 
pathizers, were  conveyed  before  General  Shepley  at  the  City  Hall. 
Upon  being  brought  into  the  presence  of  General  Shepley,  she 
commenced  the  utterance  of  threats  and  abuse,  and,  further,  took 
out  of  her  bosom  innumerable  bits  of  paper,  on  which  were  written 


438  EFFECT   OF   THE   FAILURE   IN   VIRGINIA. 

insulting  epithets,  addressed  to  the  United  States  authorities,  and 
one  by  one  thrust  them  into  General  Shepley's  hand.  After  some 
few  questions  she  was  put  into  a  carriage  and  conveyed  to  General 
Butler's  head-quarters,  where  she  was  recognized  as  the  mistress 
of  a  gambler  and  murderer,  now,  by  General  Butler's  orders,  con- 
fined at  Fort  Jackson,  but  nominally  passing  as  the  wife  of  one 
John  H.  Larue." 

There  was  every  reason  to  believe  that  this  was  a  concerted 
scene  between  the  woman  and  the  crowd.  General  Butler  sent  for 
her  husband,  who,  on  being  asked  his  occupation,  replied  that  he 
"played  cards  for  a  living."  The  general  disposed  of  the  case 
thus : 

"  John  H.  Larue,  being  by  his  own  confession  a  vagrant,  a  person 
without  visible  means  of  support,  and  one  who  gets  his  living  by 
playing  cards,  is  committed  to  the  parish  prison  until  farther 
orders.  Anna  Larue,  his  wife,  having  been  found  in  the  public 
streets,  wearing  a  Confederate  flag  upon  her  person,  in  order  to 
incite  a  riot,  which  act  has  already  resulted  in  a  breach  of  the 
peace,  and  danger  to  the  life  of  a  soldier  of  the  United  Sates,  is 
sent  to  Ship  Island  till  farther  orders.  She  is  to  be  kept  separate 
and  apart  from  the  other  women  confined  there." 

The  hideous  events  attending  the  funeral  of  Lieutenant  De  Kay, 
of  General  Williams's  staff*,  showed  the  true  quality  of  the  "  original 
secessionists ;"  showed,  at  once,  their  cowardice,  their  meanness, 
and  their  ferocity;  and  proved  the  necessity  for  those  strong 
measures  by  which  the  secessionists  of  the  city  were  deprived 
of  their  power  to  co-operate  with  their  friends  beyond  the  Union 
lines. 

Lieutenant  De  Kay,  summoned  from  his  studies  in  Europe  by 
the  peril  of  his  country,  was  on  board  a  gun-boat  descending  the 
Mississippi,  when  it  was  fired  into  by  guerillas.  He  received  twelve 
buck-shots  in  his  body.  He  lingered  a  month  in  New  Orleans,  en- 
during his  sufferings  with  heroic  cheerfuhiess,  content  to  die  for  his 
country.  He  expired  on  the  27th  of  June,  mourned  by  the  whole 
army.  General  Butler  was  at  Baton  Rouge  on  the  day  of  the 
funeral,  and  his  absence  emboldened  the  baser  rebels,  who  seized 
the  opportunity  to  insult  the  funeral  cortege  with  laughter  and  op- 
probrious outcries.  Women  again  appeared  in  the  streets  wearing 
Confederate  colors.   The  notorious  Mrs.  Philips,  formerly  a  member 


EFFECT   OF   THE    FAILURE    IN    VIRGINIA.  439 

of  Mr.  Buchanan's  boudoir  cabinet,  banished  from  Washington  as 
an  ally  of  traitors,  saluted  the  procession  with  ostentatious  laughter 
from  the  balcony  of  her  house.  Many  other  women  took  pains  to 
exhibit  their  exultation.  A  bookseller  placed  in  the  window  of 
his  store  a  skeleton  labeled  "  Chickahominy."  Another  miscreant 
exhibited,  in  a  club-room  and  elsewhere,  a  cross  which  he  said  was 
made  of  a  Yankee's  bone.  When  the  procession  arrived  at  the 
church,  the  galleries  were  found  filled  with  a  rabble  of  filthy  scoun- 
drels, the  "  dregs  of  the  city,"  whose  demeanor  was  in  keeping  with 
that  of  their  instigators  out-of-doors.  No  minister  appeared  to 
conduct  the  last  ceremonies.  Dr.  Leacock,  the  pastor  of  the  church, 
a  weak,  vacillating  man,  had  promised  to  officiate,  but  had  been  in- 
duced to  break  his  promise  by  the  persuasions  of  members  of  his 
church ;  and  other  arrangements  for  the  ceremony  had  to  be  hastily 
made  amid  the  sneers  and  exultation  of  the  crowd. 

The  scenes  of  that  afternoon  were  so  profoundly  disgusting,  so 
exasperating  to  the  long-suffering  troops,  that,  probably,  no  other 
body  of  men  ever  assembled  in  arms  would  have  had  the  self-con- 
trol to  bear  them  in  silence.*  They  did  bear  them  in  silence.  Not 
a  resentful  word,  still  less  a  resentful  act  escaped  them.  It  proba- 
bly occurred  to  most  of  the  troops  that  General  Butler  was  ex- 
pected home  on  the  following  day ;  and  to  him  they  knew  they 
could  safely  commit  the  vindication  of  outraged  decency. 

The  general,  meanwhile,  had  been  enjoying  a  pleasant  excursion 


*  The  following,  from  the  pen  of  Lieutenant  (now  General)  Godfrey  Weitzel,  appeared  in  the 
Delta  the  next  morning : 

"To  the  Editor  op  tub  Delta. — This  afternoon  the  funeral  of  De  Kay  was  held.  A  young 
officer  of  the  United  States  army  was  huried,  who,  in  every  respect,  was  the  peer  of  any  young 
man  in  the  South.  We  who  knew,  loved  and  admired  him.  He  was  fatally  wounded  a  month 
ago  while  defending  a  cause  in  which  he  took  the  sword  as  honestly,  with  as  high  toned  feelings 
of  duty,  as  any  man  now  fighting  for  the  South.  He  left  his  studies  in  Europe  to  espouse  this 
cause,  because  he  honestly  and  sincerely  believed  it  to  be  his  duty.  He  was  wounded,  but  how? 
From  behind  a  bush,  with  buck-shot  tired  from  a  gun,  probably  by  a  man  who  would  not  have 
dared  to  meet  him  openly.  He  lingers  a  month.  Not  a  word  of  complaint  or  reproach  passed 
his  lip.  Always  happy  and  cheerful  even  unto  his  last  moment  We  requested  yesterday  the 
use  of  a  house  of  God,  in  which  to  show  to  his  mortal  remains  our  respect.  It  is  granted,  but 
how?  After  moving  through  collections  of  street  cars,  crowded  with  ladies  wearing  secession 
badges,  and  passively  smiling  and  cheerful  crowds  studiously  collected  to  insult  the  dead,  we 
arrived  at  the  house  of  the  Lord.  We  find  it  thrown  open  like  a  stable,  as  if  by  military  compul- 
sion. We  enter,  and  find  the  galleries  and  the  most  prominent  places  occupied  bv  a  rabble  and 
negroes— a  collection  such  as  never  defiled  a  church  before. 

"Gentlemen  and  ladies  of  New  Orleans  and  of  the  South,  there  was  no  chivalry  in  this. 

"  G.  W  eitzel,  Lieutenant  U.  &  Engineers. 

"ITew  Okleaxs,  June  28,  1S62." 


440  EFFECT    OF   THE    FAILURE   IN   VIRGINIA. 

up  the  river,  and  was  returning  well  pleased  with  what  he  had 
seen  and  heard  at  the  capital  of  the  state.  "  I  have  been  agreeably 
disappointed,"  he  wrote  to  the  secretary  of  war,  "  in  the  feeling  at 
Baton  Rouge.  There  is  a  longing  for  the  restoration  of  the  old 
state  of  things  under  the  Union,  which  is  gratifying.  I  had  a  visit 
from  a  dozen  or  more  of  the  gentlemen  of  Baton  Rouge,  and  vicinity, 
representing  some  five  or  six  millions  of  property,  and  had  conver- 
sation with  them  upon  the  new  system  of  partisan  rangers  just  now 
inaugurated,  i.  <?.,  guerilla  warfare.  They  deprecated  it,  and  will 
do  everything  possible  to  discountenance  it.  They  offered  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance  if  required,  but  assured  me  they  thought  they 
could  do  more  good  by  abstaining  from  that  oath  for  the  present, 
because  it  would  be  impossible  for  them  to  have  communication 
with  these  partisans  if  they  took  the  oath  and  it  should  be  pub- 
licly known." 

"  I  brought  before  me  some  of  the  most  violent  of  the  rebels, 
and,  after  calling  their  attention  to  the  present  state  of  things,  I 
proposed  to  them  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  after  consideration 
over  night,  two  of  them,  Mr.  Benjamin,  brother  of  the  rebel  secre- 
tary of  war,  and  Byam,  the  mayor  of  the  city,  took  the  oath.  I 
brought  away  with  me,  and  now  have  under  arrest,  five  of  those 
who  had  used  threats  toward  the  men  who  had  shown  themselves 
favorable  to  the  Union. 

"  Upon  full  reflection  and  observation,  I  find  the  condition  of 
public  sentiment  to  be  this :  The  planters  and  men  of  property  are 
now  tired  of  the  war  ;  are  well  disposed  toward  the  Union  ;  only 
fearing  lest  their  negroes  should  not  be  let  alone ;  would  be  quite 
happy  to  have  the  Union  restored  in  all  things. 

"  The  operative  classes  of  white  men,  of  all  trades,  are,  as  a  rule, 
in  favor  of  the  Union. 

"  In  fact,  the  rebellion  was  at  first  inaugurated  for  the  purpose 
of  establishing  a  landed  aristocracy,  as  against  the  poor  and  mid- 
dling whites,  who  had  shown  some  disposition  to  assert  their 
equality  with  the  planter,  and  had  begun  to  express  themselves 
through  organizations,  on  the  basis  of  the  Masonic  Order,  of  which 
the  South  is  full,  and  of  which  that  ritual  is  the  pattern." 

Returning  from  these  encouraging  scenes,  he  was  called  upon 
to  deal  with  the  savages  of  New  Orleans.  Mrs.  Philips,  and  the  ex- 
hibitors of  the  skeleton  and  the  cross,  were  brought  before  him. 


EFFECT   OF   THE   FAILURE   IN   VIRGINIA.  441 

The  manner  in  which  he  disposed  of  their  cases  can  best  be  shown 
by  presenting  three  special  orders,  issued  on  the  day  after  his  re- 
turn : 

"  New  Orleans,  June  30,  1862. 

"Mrs.  Philips,  wife  of  Philip  Philips,  having  been  once  imprisoned  for 
her  traitorous  proclivities  and  acts  at  "Washington,  and  released  by  the  clem- 
ency of  the  government,  and  having  been  found  training  her  children  to 
spit  upon  officers  of  the  United  States  at  New  Orleans,  for  which  act  of  ono 
of  those  children  both  her  husband  and  herself  apologized  and  were  again 
forgiven,  is  now  found  on  the  balcony  of  her  house  during  the  passage  of 
the  funeral  procession  of  Lieutenant  De  Kay,  laughing  and  mocking  at  his 
remains;  and,  upon  being  inquired  of  by  the  commanding  general  if  this 
fact  were  so,  contemptuously  replies,  'I  was  in  good  spirits  that  day.' 

"  It  is,  therefore,  ordered.  That  she  be  not  regarded  and  treated  as  a  com- 
mon woman  of  whom  no  officer  or  soldier  is  bound  to  take  notice,  but  as 
an  uncommon,  bad,  and  dangerous  woman,  stirring  up  strife  and  inciting  to 
riot. 

"  And  that,  therefore,  she  be  confined  at  Ship  Island,  in  the  state  of  Mis- 
sissippi, within  proper  limits  there,  till  farther  orders ;  and  that  she  be 
allowed  one  female  servant  and  no  more  if  she  so  choose.  That  one  of  the 
houses  for  hospital  purposes  be  assigned  her  as  quarters ;  and  a  soldier's  ra- 
tion each  day  be  served  out  to  her,  with  the  means  of  cooking  the  same  ; 
and  that  no  verbal  or  written  communication  be  allowed  with  her  except 
through  this  office ;  and  that  she  be  kept  in  close  confinement  until  re- 
moved to  Ship  Island." 

"  New  Oeleaxs,  June  30,  1862. 

"  Fidel  Keller  has  been  found  exhibiting  a  human  skeleton  in  his  book- 
store window,  in  a  public  place  in  this  city,  labeled  '  Chickahominy,'  in 
large  letters,  meaning  and  intending  that  the  bones  should  be  taken  by  the 
populace  to  be  the  bones  of  a  United  States  soldier  slain  in  that  battle,  in 
order  to  bring  the  authority  of  the  United  States  and  our  army  into  con- 
tempt, and  for  that  purpose  had  stated  to  the  passers-by  that  the  bones 
were  those  of  a  Yankee  soldier ;  whereas,  in  truth  and  fact,  they  were  the 
bones  purchased  some  weeks  before  of  the  Mexican  consul,  to  whom  they 
were  pledged  by  a  medical  student. 

"  It  is,  therefore,  ordered,  That  for  this  desecration  of  the  dead,  he  be  con- 
fined at  Ship  Island  for  two  years  at  hard  labor,  and  that  he  be  allowed  to 
communicate  with  no  person  on  the  island  except  Mrs.  Philips,  who  has 
been  sent  there  for  a  like  offense.  Any  written  message  may  be  sent  by 
him  through  these  head-quarters. 


442  EFFECT    OF   THE   FAILURE   IN   VIRGINIA. 

14  Upon  this  order  being  read  to  him,  the  said  Keller  requested  that  so 
much  of  it  as  associated  him  with  '  that  woman '  might  he  recalled,  which 
request  was  therefore  reduced  to  writing  by  him  as  follows: 

"  'New  Oeleans,  June  30,  18G2. 
" '  Mr.  Keller  desires  that  that  part  of  the  sentence  which  refers  to  the 
communication  with  Mrs.  Philips  be  stricken  out,  as  he  does  not  wish  to 
have  communication  with  the  said  Mrs.  Philips. 

"T.  Kellee. 
44 '  Witness,  D.  Watebs.' 

"  Said  request  seeming  to  the  commanding  general  reasonable,  so  much 
of  said  order  is  revoked,  and  the  remainder  will  be  executed."* 

"  New  Oeleans,  June  30,  1862. 

"  John  W.  Andrews  exhibited  a  cross,  the  emblem  of  the  suffering  of 
our  blessed  Saviour,  fashioned  for  a  personal  ornament,  which  he  said  was 
made  from  the  bones  of  a  Yankee  soldier,  and  having  shown  this  too,  with- 
out rebuke,  in  the  Louisiana  Club,  which  claims  to  be  composed  of  chivalric 
gentlemen, 

44  It  is,  therefore,  ordered,  That  for  this  desecration  of  the  dead,  he  be  con- 
fined at  hard  labor  for  two  years  on  the  fortifications  of  Ship  Island,  and 
that  he  be  allowed  no  verbal  or  written  communication  to  or  with  any  one, 
except  through  these  head-quarters." 

Mrs.  Philips,  I  may  add,  was  released  after  several  weeks  deten- 
tion.f  She  went  to  Mobile,  where  she  received  an  ovation  from  the 
leaders  of  society,  and  was  the  subject  of  laudatory  paragraphs  in 
the  newspapers.  She  had  the  grace,  however,  to  deny  having  in- 
tended to  insult  the  remains  of  Lieutenant  De  Kay.  She  said  that 
she  really  was  in  high  spirits  that  day,  and  that  her  ill-timed  mer- 
riment was  not  provoked  by  the  passage  of  the  funeral  procession. 

♦The  explanation  of  Keller's  curious  request  is  this:  There  was  another  Mrs.  Philips  in  New 
Orleans,  notorious  as  a  keeper  of  a  house  of  ill-fame.  The  prisoner  having  only  heard  of  this  Mrs. 
Philips,  had  the  decency  to  desire  to  be  kept  apart  from  her,  fearing,  as  he  said,  the  effect  upon 
the  feelings  of  his  wife  if  he  should  be  associated  with  such  a  woman.  The  general  was  not 
aware  of  the  cause  of  his  scruples  at  the  time. 

t"  Head-quarters,  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
■  New  Orleans,  La.,  September  14. 1S62. 
"Ordered: — The  Commanding  General  having  learned  that  the  farther  imprisonment  of  Mrs. 
Philips  may  result  in  injury  to  the  wholly  innocent,  directs  her  to  be  released,  if  she  chooses  to 
give  her  parole,  that  in  nothing  she  will  give  aid,  comfort,  or  information  to  the  enemies  of  tha 
United  States. 

"By  order  of  Major-General  Buxles. 

"  A.  A.  Fuller,  Lieiit.  and  A.  D.  C." 


EFFECT    OF   THE   FAILURE   IN   VIRGINIA.  443 

A  trifling  circumstance,  of  a  ludicrous  nature,  may  serve  to  show 
something  of  the  disposition  of  the  people — just  as  we  learn  the 
feelings  of  a  family  from  the  prattle  of  the  children.  Among  a 
batch  of  captured  letters  was  found  one  from  a  certain  Edward 
Wright,  a  resident  of  New  Orleans,  to  a  lady  in  Secessia,  full  of 
the  most  ridiculous  lies.  He  told  his  correspondent  that  the  Yan- 
kee officers  were  the  most  craven  creatures  on  earth.  One  of  them, 
he  said,  had  insulted  a  lady  in  the  streets,  which  Wright  per- 
ceiving, he  had  slapped  the  officer's  face  and  kicked  him,  and  then 
offered  to  meet  him  in  the  field ;  but  the  officer  gave  some  "  rig- 
marole excuse"  and  declined.  For  this,  he  continued,  he  was 
taken  before  Picayune  Butler,  and  came  near  being  sent  to  Fort 
Jackson. 

General  Butler  caused  the  writer  of  this  epistle  to  be  brought 
before  him,  when  the  following  conversation  occurred  betweei 
them : — 

"  What  is  your  name  ?" 

"Edward  Wright." 

"  Have  I  ever  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  before  ?" 

"Not  that  I  know  of." 

"Have  you  ever  been  before  an  officer  of  the  United  Stat** 
charged  with  any  offense  ?" 

"No,  sir." 

"  Have  you  ever  had  any  difficulty  or  misunderstanding  with  ui 
officer  of  the  United  States  in  the  streets  or  elsewhere?" 

"Never,  sir." 

"  Have  you  any  complaint  to  make  of  the  conduct  of  any  of  my 
officers  or  men  ?" 

"None,  sir." 

"  Have  you  ever  observed  any  misconduct  on  their  part,  since  ve 
arrived  in  the  city  ? 

"  Never,  sir." 

The  general  now  produced  the  letter,  and  handed  it  to  the 
prisoner. 

"  Did  you  write  that  letter  ?" 

"  It  looks  like  my  handwriting." 

"  Did  you  write  the  letter  ?" 

"Yes;  I  wrote  it." 

"  Is  not  the  story  of  vour  slapping  and  kicking  the  officer,  an 
19* 


444  EFFECT   OF   THE   FAILURE   IN  VIRGINIA. 

unmitigated  and  malicious  lie,  designed  to  bring  the  army  of  the 
United  States  into  contempt  ?" 

"  Well,  sir,  it  isn't  true,  I  admit." 

The  general  then  dictated  a  sentence  like  this,  which  was  written 
at  the  bottom  of  the  letter :  "  I,  Edward  Wright,  acknowledge 
that  this  letter  is  basely  and  abominably  false,  and  that  I  wrote  it 
for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  army  of  the  United  States  into 
contempt." 

"  Sign  that,  sir." 

"  I  won't.  I  am  a  British  subject,  and  claim  the  protection  of  the 
British  consul." 

"  Sign  it,  sir." 
*>  "  General  Butler,  you  may  put  every  ball  of  that  pistol  through 
my  brain,  but  I  will  never  sign  that  paper." 

"  Captain  Davis,  make  out  an  order  to  the  provost-marshal,  to 
hang  this  man  at  daybreak  to-morrow.  In  the  mean  time,  let  him 
have  any  priest  he  chooses  to  send  for.  Gentlemen,  I  am  going  to 
dinner." 

Before  the  general  had  reached  his  quarters,  an  orderly  came 
running  up. 

"  General,  he  has  signed." 

"  Well,  keep  him  in  the  guard-house  all  night,  and  let  him  go  in 
the  morning." 

A  conspiracy  to  assassinate  General  Butler  was  detected  early 
in  June.  The  proofs  were  sufficient  to  warrant  the  arrest  of  four 
abandoned  characters.  The  general,  content  with  the  discovery 
and  frustration  of  the  plot,  forbore  to  prosecute  the  men,  and 
agreed  to  pardon  the  ringleader  on  condition  of  his  leaving  the 
city.  The  general  did  this  in  compliance  with  the  entreaties  of  his 
aged  father,  who  had  fought  under  General  Jackson,  in  the  war  of 
1812,  and  had  remained  true  to  his  country. 

These  incidents  may  suffice  to  show  the  disposition  of  the  seces- 
sionists of  New  Orleans,  inflamed  by  the  news  from  Virginia,  in- 
creased in  number  by  the  partial  dissolution  of  Beauregard's  army, 
and  encouraged  to  expect  an  attempt  to  drive  the  Union  army 
from  the  soil  of  Louisiana. 

Hence  the  justification  of  those  measures,  about  to  be  related, 
which  reduced  the  secession  party  in  New  Orleans  to  a  state  of 
"  subjugation,"  the  most  complete.     Before   entering  upon  those 


EFFECT   OF   THE    FAILURE    IX   VIRGINIA.  445 

measures,  it  will  be  proper  to  show  that  not  the  rebels  only  felt  the 
weight  of  General  Butler's  iron  hand.  Offenses  committed  by  ad- 
herents of  the  Union  against  the  people  of  the  city,  were  visited 
with  punishment  as  prompt  and  rigorous  as  any  which  were  perpe- 
trated against  the  country  and  the  flag. 

It  was  in  connection  with  the  searches  for  concealed  property 
of  the  Confederate  government,  under  the  general  order  of  June 
Oth,  that  the  tragical  events  occurred  to  which  I  allude,  and  which 
were  among  the  most  notable  of  General  Butler's  administra- 
tion. No  one  was  allowed  to  enter  a  house  for  the  purpose  of 
searching,  without  a  written  order  from  General  Butler,  General 
Shepley,  or  Colonel  French.  For  several  days  the  searches  pro- 
ceeded quietly  enough,  without  exciting  remark.  But  about  the 
middle  of  June,  complaints  came  pouring  into  head-quarters  of  par- 
lies entering  houses  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  searching  for  Con- 
federate arms,  who  carried  off  valuable  private  property,  such  as 
money  and  jewels.  The  detection  of  these  villains  was  remarkably 
prompt. 

On  the  12th  of  June,  at  noon,  a  complaint  was  brought  to  Gen- 
eral Butler  of  a  most  audacious  and  flagrant  outrage  of  this  kind. 
A  cab  drove  up  to  a  house  in  Toulouse  street,  from  which  issued 
two  men,  who  entered  the  house  and  presented  to  the  inmates 
an  order  to  search  for  arms,  signed,  apparently,  by  General 
Butler.  Two  men  remained  in  the  cab  while  the  search  proceeded. 
The  two  who  entered  the  house,  and  rummaged  its  closets  and 
drawers,  behaved  to  the  family  with  great  politeness,  expressing 
their  regret  at  having  been  ordered  upon  so  unpleasant  a  duty,  and 
declaring  their  desire  to  perform  that  duty  with  as  little  inconven- 
ience to  the  inmates  of  the  house  as  possible.  Upon  retiring,  they 
were  so  good  as  to  leave  a  certificate  to  this  effect : 

"  J.  William  Henry,  First-Lieutenant  of  the  Eighteenth  Massachu- 
setts volunteers,  has  searched  the  premises  No.  93  Toulouse  street, 
and  find,  to  the  best  of  my  judgment,  that  all  the  people  who  live 
there  are  loyal.     Please  examine  no  more. 

"  J.  William  Henry." 

After  the  departure  of  these  urbane  and  considerate  gentlemen, 
the  lady  of  the  house  found  that  they  had  carried  with  them  eight- 


446  EFFECT   OF   THE   FAILURE  TN"  VIRGINIA. 

een  hundred  and  eighty  dollars,  a  gold  watch,  and  a  breastpin. 
Another  sum  of  over  eight  thousand  dollars  they  had  overlooked. 

There  was  but  one  clue  to  the  discovery  of  these  men.  They  had 
ridden  to  the  house  in  cab  No.  50,  which  had  remained  before  the 
door  during  the  search,  and  in  which  the  searchers  had  departed. 
The  driver  of  cab  No.  50,  who  was  immediately  brought  before 
the  general,  was  required  to  relate  the  history  of  his  doings  during 
the  previous  night.  In  the  course  of  the  afternoon,  the  coffee-house 
to  which  he  had  last  conveyed  his  passengers,  was  surrounded,  and 
every  man  in  it  was  brought  before  the  general.  There  were  four 
of  them.  General  Butler  never  forgets  a  face  that  he  has  onne 
seen.     After  looking  at  the  men  a  moment,  he  asked  one  of  them  : 

"  Where  have  I  seen  you  ?" 

"In  Boston." 

"Where  in  Boston?" 

"  In  the  Municipal  Court." 

"  For  what  offense  were  you  tried  before  that  court  ?" 

"Burglary." 

"Did  you  join  any  regiment?" 

"Yes." 

"Which?" 

"  The  Thirtieth  Massachusetts." 

"  Why  are  you  not  with  your  regiment  ?" 

"  I  was  discharged." 

"What  for?" 

"  Disease." 

"  Well,  you  ought  to  be  hanged  any  how,  for  you  have  robbed 
before,  and  been  convicted." 

"Don't  do  it,  general,  and  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it." 

"  Well,  make  a  clean  breast  of  it,  then." 

The  man  confessed.  He  said  that  he  was  one  of  an  organized 
gang,  who  had  been  entering  houses  for  several  nights  and  plun- 
dering. The  particular  offense  committed  in  Toulouse  street  was 
brought  home,  on  the  spot,  to  two  others  of  the  arrested  men,  who 
confessed  their  guilt.  A  considerable  part  of  the  stolen  money 
was  recovered  and  restored.  Three  more  of  the  gang  were  arrested 
by  Colonel  Stafford's  detectives  on  the  following  day.  General 
Butler  disposed  of  these  flagrant  cases  in  the  two  special  orders 
following : 


EFFECT   OF  THE   FAILURE    IN   VIRGINIA.  4  -!  7 

"New  Orleans,  June  13,  1862. 

"  William  M.  Clary,  late  second  officer  of  the  United  States  steam 
transport  Saxon,  and  Stanislaus  Roy,  of  New  Orleans,  on  the  night  of  the 
11th  of  June  inst.,  having  forged  a  pretended  authority  of  the  major-gene- 
ral commanding,  being  armed,  in  company  with  other  evil  disposed  persons, 
under  false  names,  and  in  a  pretended  uniform  of  the  soldiers  of  the  United 
Blates,  entered  the  house  of  a  peaceable  citizen,  No.  93  Toulouse  street, 
about  the  hour  of  eleven  o'clock  in  the  nighttime,  and  there,  in  a  pretended 
search  for  arms  and  treasonable  correspondence,  by  virtue  of  such  forged 
authority,  plundered  said  house  and  stole  therefrom  eighteen  hundred  and 
eighty-five  dollars  in  current  bank-notes,  one  gold  watch  and  chain,  and 
one  bosom  pin. 

"This  outrage  was  reported  to  the  commanding  general  at  twelve  o'clock 
a.  m.  on  the  12th  of  June  instant,  and  by  his  order  Clary  and  Roy  were 
detected  and  arrested  on  the  same  day,  and  brought  before  the  command- 
ing general  at  one  o'clock  of  this  day,  and  Avhere  it  appeared  by  incontro- 
vertible evidence  that  the  facts  above  stated  were  true,  and  all  material 
parts  thereof  were  voluntarily  confessed  by  Clary  and  Roy. 

"  It  farther  appeared  that  Clary  and  Roy  had  before  this  occasion  visited 
other  houses  of  peaceable  citizens  in  the  night  time,  for  like  purposes  and 
under  like  false  pretenses. 

"  '  Brass  knuckles,'  burglars'  keys,  and  a  portion  of  the  stolen  property 
and  other  property  stolen  from  other  parties,  were  found  upon  the  person 
of  Roy,  and  in  his  lodgings. 

"  Whereupon,  after  a  full  hearing  of  the  defense  of  said  Clary  and  Roy,  and 
due  consideration  of  the  evidence,  it  was  ordered  by  the  commanding  gene- 
ral that  Wm.  M.  Clary  and  Stanislaus  Roy,  for  their  offenses,  be  punished 
by  being  hanged  by  the  neck  until  they  are  dead,  and  this  sentence  be 
executed  upon  them  and  each  of  them,  between  the  hours  of  eight  o'clock 
a.  m.  and  twelve  m.  on  Monday,  the  16th  of  June  inst,  at  or  near  the 
parish  prison,  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans. 

M  The  provost-marshal  will  cause  said  sentence  to  be  executed,  and  for 
so  doing  this  order  will  be  sufficient  warrant." 

"  New  Orleans,  June  15,  1862. 
"Theodore  Lieb,  of  New  Orleans,  George  William  Crage,  late  first  offi- 
cer of  the  ship  City  of  New  York,  and  Frank  Newton,  late  private  of  the 
Thirteenth  regiment  Connecticut  volunteers,  having,  upon  their  own  con- 
fession and  clear  proof,  after  a  full  hearing,  been  convicted  of  being  members 
of  a  gang  of  thieves,  consisting  of  seven  or  more,  of  which  William  M. 
Clary  and  Stanislaus  Roy,  mentioned  in  Special  Order  No.  98,  and  now 
under  sentence  of  death,  were  principals,  bound  together  by  an  oath  or 
obligation,  engaged  by  merms  of  a  forged  authority  and  false  uniforms,  in 


448  EFFECT   OF   THE   FAILUEE   TN"  VIRGINIA. 

robbing  the  houses  of  divers  peaceable  citizens  of  their  moneys,  watches, 
jewelry  and  valuables,  under  pretense  of  searching  for  arms  and  articles 
of  war,  must  suffer  the  proper  penalty. 

u.  At  least  eight  houses,  as  appears  by  their  confession,  were  plundered 
by  three  or  more  of  the  gang,  while  others  were  watching  without,  at 
various  times,  and  a  large  amount  of  property  carried  off,  a  large  portion 
of  which  has  since  been  recovered. 

K  The  heinousness  of  this  offense,  heightened  by  the  contempt  and  dis- 
grace brought  upon  the  uniform,  authority  and  flag  of  the  United  States 
by  their  fraudulent  acts,  in  making  it  cover  their  nefarious  practices,  ren- 
ders them  peculiarly  the  subjects  of  prompt  and  condign  punishment. 

"  It  is  therefore  ordered  that  George  William  Crage  and  Frank  Newton 
(for  the  offenses  aforesaid)  be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  they  and  each  of 
them  be  dead,  and  that  this  sentence  be  executed  upon  them  at  or  near  the 
parish  prison,  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  on  Monday,  the  16th  day  of 
June  instant,  between  the  hours  of  six  a.  m.  and  twelve  m.,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  provost-marshal ;  and  for  so  doing  this  shall  be  sufficient  war- 
rant. 

"  Theodore  Lieb,  being  a  youth  of  eighteen  years  only,  in  consideration 
of  his  tender  years,  has  his  punishment  commuted  to  confinement  at  hard 
labor  on  the  fortifications  at  Ship  Island,  or  the  nearest  military  post, 
during  the  pleasure  of  the  president  of  the  United  States." 

Thus,  the  crime  was  committed  on  the  11th,  detected  on  the 
12th,  two  of  the  criminals  were  tried  on  the  13th,  two  more  on 
the  15th,  and  the  whole  ordered  to  be  executed  on  the  16th.  The 
man  whose  confession  led  to  the  conviction  of  the  offenders  was 
sentenced  to  five  years'  imprisonment  at  hard  labor.  Two  or  three 
other  less  guilty  participants  were  sentenced  to  six  months  at  Ship 
Island  with  ball  and  chain. 

Those  who  observed  the  mingled  nonchalance  and  severity  of 
General  Butler's  demeanor  during  those  four  days,  may  naturally 
have  concluded  that  it  cost  him  no  great  exertion  of  will  to  hang 
these  criminals.  In  reality,  it  caused  him  the  severest  internal  con- 
flict of  his  whole  life.  During  the  excitement  of  the  detection  and 
trial,  there  was,  indeed,  no  room  for  any  emotions  but  disgust  at 
the  crime  and  exultation  at  his  success  in  discovering  the  perpetra- 
tors. It  was  far  different  on  the  Sunday  preceding  the  day  of  exe- 
cution, when  the  men  lay  at  his  mercy  in  prison,  when  the  wives 
of  twro  of  them  came  imploring  for  mercy,  when  the  distant  families 
of  the  other  two  were  brought  to  his  knowledge,  and  when  the 


THE    SHEEP    AND   THE    GOATS.  449 

softer  hearted  of  his  own  military  family  pleaded  for  a  commuta- 
tion of  the  sentence.  Mrs.  Butler  was  at  the  North  for  the  sum- 
mer. Alone  that  night,  the  general  paced  his  room,  considering 
and  reconsidering  the  case.  He  could  not  find  a  door  of  escape  for 
these  men.  He  had  executed  a  citizen  of  New  Orleans  for  an 
offense  against  the  flag  of  his  country;  how  could  he  pardon  a 
crime  committed  by  Union  men  against  the  citizens  of  New 
Orleans,  a  crime  involving  several  distinct  offenses  of  the  deepest 
dye  ?  His  duty  was  clear,  but  he  could  not  sleep.  He  paced  his 
room  till  the  dawn  of  day. 

The  men  were  executed  in  the  morning ;  all  but  one  of  them 
confessing  their  guilt.  To  one  of  the  families  thus  left  destitute, 
the  general  gave  a  sewTing-machine,  by  which  they  were  enabled  to 
earn  a  subsistence. 

The  effect  of  this  prompt  and  rigorous  justice  was  most  salutary 
upon  the  minds  of  both  parties  in  New  Orleans;  and  its  effect 
would  have  been  as  manifest  as  it  was  real,,  but  for  the  disturbing 
influence  of  the  terrible  tidings  from  Virginia ;  in  the  presence  of 
which  the  wisdom  of  an  archangel  would  have  failed  to  give  confi- 
dence to  the  loyal  people  of  Louisiana,  or  win  to  the  Union  cause 
any  considerable  number  of  the  party  for  secession. 


CHAPTER  XXm. 

THE  SHEEP  AND  THE  GOATS. 

We  may  now  proceed  to  consider  the  iron-handed  measures  of 
the  commanding  general,  which  were  designed  to  isolate  the  seces- 
sionists, and  render  them  innoxious. 

Crowds  were  forbidden  to  assemble,  and  public  meetings,  unless 
expressly  authorized.  The  police  were  ordered  to  disperse  all 
street-gatherings  of  a  greater  number  of  persons  than  three. 

In  the  sixth  week  of  the  occupation  of  the  city,  General  Butler 
began  the  long  series  of  measures,  by  which  the  sheep  were  sepa- 
rated from  the  goats ;  by  which  the  attitude  of  every  inhabitant  of 


4 DO  THE  SHEEP  AND  THE  GOATS. 

New  Orleans  toward  the  government  of  the  United  States  was  as- 
certained and  recorded.  The  people  might  be  politically  divided 
thus :  Union  men ;  rebels ;  foreigners  friendly  to  the  United  States ; 
foreigners  sympathizing  with  the  Confederates  ;  soldiers  from  Beau- 
regard's army  inclined  to  submission ;  soldiers  from  Beauregard's 
army  not  inclined  to  submission.  These  soldiers,  who  numbered 
several  thousands,  were  required  to  come  forward  and  define  their 
position,  and  either  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  or  surrender  them- 
selves prisoners  of  war ;  in  which  latter  case,  they  would  be  admitted 
to  parole  until  regularly  exchanged,  or  if  they  preferred  it,  remain  in 
confinement.  In  this  way,  the  name,  standing,  residence,  and  politi- 
cal sympathies  of  this  concourse  of  men  were  placed  on  record, 
and  the  general  was  enabled  to  know  where  they  were  to  be  found, 
and  what  he  had  to  expect  from  them  in  time  of  danger. 

His  next  step  was  to  decree,  that  no  authority  of  any  kind  should 
be  exercised  in  New  Orleans  by  traitors,  and  that  no  favors  should 
be  granted  to  traitors  by  the  United  States,  except  the  mere  pro- 
tection from  personal  violence  secured  by  the  police.  The  follow- 
ing general  order  was  designed  to  secure  these  objects  : 

"New  Oeleans,  June  10,  1862. 
"Geneeal  Oedee  No.  41. 

"  The  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  require  that  all  military, 
civil,  judicial,  executive  and  legislative  officers  of  the  United  States,  and  of 
the  several  states,  shall  take  a,n  oath  to  support  the  constitution  and  laws. 
If  a  person  desires  to  serve  the  United  States,  or  to  receive  special  profit 
from  a  protection  from  the  United  States,  he  should  take  upon  himself  the 
corresponding  obligations.  This  oath  will  not  be,  as  it  has  never  been, 
forced  upon  any.  It  is  too  sacred  an  obligation,  too  exalted  in  its  tenure, 
and  brings  with  it  too  many  benefits  and  privileges,  to  be  profaned  by  un- 
willing lip  service.  It  enables  its  recipient  to  say,  'I  am  an  American  citi- 
zen,' the  highest  title  known,  save  that  of  him  wrho  can  say  with  St.  Paul, 
'I  was  free  born,'  and  have  never  renounced  that  freedom. 

"Judges,  justices,  sheriffs,  attorneys,  notaries,  and  all  officers. of  the  law 
whatever,  and  all  persons  who  have  ever  been,  or  who  have  ever  claimed 
to  be,  citizens  of  the  United  States  in  this  department,  who  therefore  exer- 
cise any  office,  hold  any  place  of  trust  or  calling  whatever  which  calls  for 
the  doing  of  any  legal  act  whatever,  or  for  the  doing  of  any  act,  judicial  or 
administrative,  which  shall  or  may  affect  any  other  person  than  the  actor, 
must  take  and  subscribe  the  following  oath :  '  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or 
affirm)  that  I  will  bear  true  faith  and  allegiance  to  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  will  support  the  constitution  thereof.'     All  acts,  doings,  deeds, 


THE    SHEEP    A:NT>   THE    GOATS.  451 

instruments,  records  or  certificates,  certified  or  attested  by,  and  transactions 
done,  performed,  or  made  by  any  of  the  persons  above  described,  from  and 
after  the  15th  day  of  June  inst.,  who  shall  not  have  taken  and  subscribed 
such  oath,  are  void  and  of  no  effect. 

"It  having  become  necessary,  in  the  judgment  of  the  commanding  gen- 
eral, as  a  '  public  exigency,'  to  distinguish  those  who  ar&  well  disposed  to- 
ward the  government  of  the  United  States,  from  those  who  still  hold  alle- 
giance to  the  Confederate  States,  and  ample  time  having  been  given  to  all 
citizens  for  reflection  upon  this  subject,  and  full  protection  to  person  and 
property  of  every  law-abiding  citizen  having  been  afforded,  according  to 
the  terms  of  the  proclamation  of  May  1st : 

"  Be  it  further  ordered,  That  all  persons  ever  heretofore  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  asking  or  receiving  any  favor,  protection,  privilege,  passport, 
or  to  have  money  paid  them,  property,  or  other  valuable  thing  whatever 
delivered  to  them,  or  any  benefit  of  the  power  of  the  United  States  extend- 
ed to  them,  except  protection  from  personal  violence,  must  take  and  sub 
scribe  the  oath  above  specified,  before  their  request  can  be  heard,  or  any  act 
done  in  their  favor  by  any  officer  of  the  United  States  within  this  depart- 
ment. And  for  this  purpose  all  persons  shall  be  deemed  to  have  been  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  who  shall  have  been  residents  therein  for  the 
space  of  five  years  and  upward,  and  if  foreign  born,  shall  not  have  claimed 
and  received  a  protection  of  their  government,  duly  signed  and  registered 
by  the  proper  officer,  more  than  sixty  days  previous  to  the  publication  of 
this  order. 

"It  having  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  commanding  general  that 
many  persons  resident  within  this  department  have  heretofore  been  aiding 
rebellion  by  furnishing  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  running  the  blockade, 
giving  information,  concealing  property,  and  abetting  by  other  ways,  the 
so-called  Confederate  States,  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  neutrality  imposed 
upon  them  by  their  sovereigns,  as  well  as  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  a  less  number  are  still  so  engaged  ;  it  is  therefore  ordered,  that  all  for- 
eigners claiming  any  of  the  privileges  of  an  American  citizen,  or  protection 
or  favor  from  the  government  of  the  United  States  (except  protection  from 
personal  violence),  shall  previously  take  and  subscribe  an  oath  in  the  form 
following : 

"  I, ,  do  solemnly  swear,  or  affirm,  that  so  long  as  my  govern- 
ment remains  at  peace  with  the  Umted  States,  I  will  do  no  act,  or  consent 
that  any  be  done,  or  conceal  any  that  has  been  or  is  about  to  be  done,  that 
shall  be  done,  that  shall  aid  or  comfort  any  of  the  enemies  or  opposers  of 
the  United  States  whatever. 

"  (Signed),  

"Subject  of -." 

"  At  the  City  Hall,  at  the  provost  court,  at  the  provost-marshal's  office, 


£52  THE  SHEEP  AND  THE  GOATS. 

and  at  the  several  police  stations,  books  will  be  opened,  and  a  proper  officer 
will  be  present  to  administer  the  proper  oaths  to  any  person  desiring  to  take 
the  same,  and  to  witness  the  subscription  of  the  same  by  the  party  taking 
it.  Such  officer  will  furnish  to  each  person  so  taking  and  subscribing,  a 
certificate  in  form  following : 

"  Department  of  the  Gulf,  New  Orleans, 1862. 

" has  taken  and  subscribed  the  oath  required  by  General  Order 

No.  41,  for  a of 

"(Signed),  ." 

General  orders  issued  at  New  Orleans  usually  produced  consid- 
erable stir  among  the  parties  interested ;  but  none  of  them  caused 
so  much  excitement  and  such  universal  alarm  as  this.  If  the  citizens 
were  astounded,  the  foreigners  were  puzzled.  N"o  one  was  obliged 
to  take  the  oath ;  but  what  would  happen  to  those  who  did  not 
take  it  ?  The  office-holders,  however,  could  entertain  no  doubts  re- 
specting their  fate,  and  all  of  them  who  adhered  still  to  the  Rich- 
mond government  at  once  resigned  their  places.  The  residue  of 
the  city  government  was  dissolved,  and  the  military  commandant 
reigned  alone  over  New  Orleans.  One  of  the  city  officials,  I  ob- 
serve from  divers  documents,  made  a  parting  dive  into  the  city 
treasury,  but  he  was  caught  in  the  act,  and  compelled  to  let  go  his 
booty. 

General  Shepley  issued  the  following  order  relative  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  city : 

"  Head-quaetees  Militaey  Commandant, 
"New  Oeleans,  City  Hall,  June  27,  1862. 

"  The  legislative  power  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans  has  heretofore  been 
vested  by  law,  in  a  board  of  aldermen  and  a  board  of  assistant  aldermen, 
who  together  formed  the  common  council  of  the  city.  This  power  is  now 
suspended.  The  seats  of  the  aldermen  and  assistant  aldermen  have  all  been 
vacated ;  one  class  of  them  by  the  expiration  of  their  term  of  office,  and  the 
remainder  by  their  neglect  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United 
States,  as  required  by  General  Order  No.  41  of  the  commanding  general  of 
this  department. 

"Believing  that  the  inconvenience  incident  to  a  temporary  suspension 
of  legislative  power  will  be  slight  compared  with  the  evils  which  have  here- 
tofore been  consequent  on  excessive  and  frequently  corrupt  legislation,  these 
vacancies  will  not  be  filled  until  such  time  as  there  shall  be  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  the  citizens  of  New  Orleans  loyal  to  their  country  and  their  constitu- 
tion to  entitle  them  to  resume  the  right  of  self-government. 


THE  SHEEP  AND  THE  GOATS.  453 

u  So  much  of  the  executive  power  of  the  city  as  has  heretofore  been  vest- 
ed in  the  mayor,  will,  for  the  present,  be  exercised  by  the  military  com- 
mandant of  New  Orleans. 

"A  'bureau  of  finance'  is  hereby  constituted,  composed  of  a  board  of 
three  persons,  one  of  whom  shall  be  the  chairman  of  the  board,  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  military  commandant,  with  such  clerks  as  may  from  time  to 
time  be  found  necessary,  and  may  be  appointed  by  the  chairman  of  the 
board,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  military  commandant.  The  duties  of 
said  bureau  shall  be  the  same  as  those  which — under  the  act  approved 
March  20,  1856,  and  under  other  laws  constituting  the  charter  of  said  city 
of  New  Orleans,  and  under  the  ordinances  of  the  city  now  in  force — have 
been  attributed  to  the  several  committees  on  finance,  fire,  police,  judi- 
ciary, claims,  education,  and  health,  in  the  board  of  aldermen  and  in  the 
board  of  assistant  aldermen  of  the  common  council  of  New  Orleans.  The 
offices  of  said  bureau  shall  be  in  the  City  Hall. 

a  A  *  bureau  of  streets  and  landings,'  consisting  of  three  persons,  one  of 
whom  shall  be  chairman,  is  hereby  constituted.  The  duties  of  said  bureau 
shall  be  the  same  which,  under  the  charters,  laws  and  ordinances  of  the  city 
of  New  Orleans,  have  been  appropriated  to  the  several  committees  on  streets 
and  landings,  workhouses  and  prisons,  and  house  of  refuge,  in  the  board  of 
aldermen  and  board  of  assistant  aldermen.  The  office  of  said  bureau 
shall  be  in  the  City  Hall,  and  the  chairman  shall  appoint,  subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  military  commandant,  the  necessary  clerks,  whose  compensa- 
tion will  be  fixed  by  the  bureau,  subject  to  the  same  approval. 

"  The  following  named  persons  will  constitute  the  bureau  of  finance :  E. 
H.  Durell,  chairman;  D.  S.  Dewees,  Stoddart  Howell. 

"  The  following  named  persons  will  constitute  the  bureau  of  streets  and 
landings:  Julian  Neville,  chairman;  Edward  Ames,  Benjamin  Campbell. 
"  By  order.  G.  F.  Sheplet, 

"  Military  Commandant  of  New  Orleans. 

"  Approved  and  ordered.  B.  F.  Butler, 

"Major- General  Commanding  Department  of  the  Gulf1 

The  consuls,  as  usual,  had  something  to  say  to  the  general  upon 
the  new  topic.  "  If  General  Butler  rides  up  Canal  street,"  said  the 
Delta,  "  the  consuls  are  sure  to  come  in  a  body,  and  '  protest'  that 
he  did  not  ride  down.  If  he  smokes  a  pipe  in  the  morning,  he  is 
sure  to  have  a  deputation  in  the  evening,  asking  why  he  did  not 
smoke  a  cigar.  If  he  drinks  coffee,  they  will  send  some  rude  mes- 
senger with  a  note  asking,  in  the  name  of  some  tottering  dynasty, 
why  he  did  not  drink  tea."  The  consuls  did  not  gain  much  glory 
in  this  new  contest  with  the  general. 


454  THE    SHEEP    AND   THE    GOATS. 


THE    CONSULS    TO    GENEEAL   BTTTLEE. 


"New  Oeleans,  June  — ,  1862. 
"To  Major-General  B.  F.  Butlee,  Commanding  Department  of  the  Gulf: 

"  Geneeal  : — The  undersigned,  foreign  consuls,  accredited  to  the  United 
States,  have  the  honor  to  represent  that  General  Order  No.  41,  under  date 
of  10th  instant,  contains  certain  clauses  against  which  they  deem  it  their 
duty  to  protest,  not  only  in  order  to  comply  with  their  obligations  as  repre- 
sentatives of  their  respective  governments,  now  at  peace  and  in  friendly 
relations  with  the  United  States,  but  also  to  protect,  by  all  possible  means, 
such  of  their  fellow-citizens  as  may  be  morally  or  materially  injured  by  the 
execution  of  an  order  which  they  consider  as  contrary  both  to  that  justice 
which  they  have  a  right  to  expect  at  the  hands  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  the  laws  of  nations. 

"  The  '  Order'  contains  two  oaths :  one,  applicable  both  to  the  native 
born  and  to  such  foreigners  as  have  not  claimed  and  received  a  protection 
from  their  government,  &c. ;  the  second  applicable,  it  would  seem,  to  such 
foreigners  as  may  have  claimed  and  received  the  above  protection :  thus, 
unnaturalized  foreigners  are  divided  into  two  categories,  a  distinction  which 
the  undersigned  can  not  admit. 

"  The  '  Order'  says  that  the  required  '  oath  will  not  be,  as  it  has  never 
been,  forced  upon  any;'  that  'it  is  too  sacred  an  obligation,  too  exalted  in 
its  tenure,  and  brings  with  it  too  many  benefits  and  privileges,  to  be  pro- 
faned by  unwilling  lip-service ;'  that  '  all  persons  shall  be  deemed  to  have 
been  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  shall  have  been  resident  therein  for 
the  space  of  five  years  and  upward,  and,  if  foreign  born,  shall  not  have 
claimed  and  received  a  protection  of  their  government,  duly  signed  and 
registered  by  the  proper  officer,  more  than  sixty  days  previous  to  the  publi- 
cation of  this  order.' 

"  Whence  it  follows  that  foreigners  are  placed  on  the  same  footing  with 
the  native  born  and  naturalized  citizens,  and  in  the  alternative  either  of  be- 
ing deprived  of  their  means  of  existence  or  forced  implicitly  to  take  the  re- 
quired oath,  if  they  wish  to  ask  and  do  receive  '  any  favor,  protection,  privi- 
lege, passport,  or  to  have  money  paid  them,  property  or  other  valuable 
thing  whatever  delivered  to  them,  or  any  benefit  of  the  power  of  the  United 
States  extended  to  them,  except  protection  from  personal  violence.' 

"  Now,  of  course,  when  a  foreigner  does  not  wish  to  submit  to  the  laws 
of  the  country  of  which  he  is  a  resident,  he  is  invariably  and  every  where  at 
liberty  to  leave  that  country.  But  here  he  does  not  even  enjoy  that  privi- 
lege; for  to  leave  he  must  procure  a  passport,  to  obtain  which  he  must 
take  an  oath  that  he  is  unwilling  to  take ;  and  yet  that  oath  '  is  so  sacred 
and  so  exalted  in  its  tenure  that  it  must  not  be  profaned  by  unwilling  lip- 


THE   SHEEP   A2sD   THE    GOATS.  455 

M  It  is  true  that  the  '  Order'  excepts  those  foreigners  who  claimed  and  re- 
ceived the  protection  of  their  government  more  than  sixty  days  previous  to 
its  publication;  but  this  exception  is  merely  nominal,  because  the  very 
great  majority  of  foreigners  never  had  any  cause  hitherto,  in  this  country, 
to  ask,  and  therefore  to  receive,  '  a  protection  of  their  government.'  Be- 
sides, this  exception  implies  an  interference  with  the  interior  administration 
of  foreign  governments — an  act  contrary  to  the  laws  of  nations.  Whether 
the  foreign  residents  have  or  have  not  complied  with  the  laws  and  edicts 
of  their  own  governments  is  a  matter  between  them  and  their  consuls,  and 
the  undersigned  deny  the  right  of  any  foreign  power  to  meddle  with,  and 
still  less  to  enforce,  the  laws  of  their  respective  countries,  as  far  as  their 
fellow-citizens  are  concerned.  When  a  consul  extends  the  high  protection 
of  his  government  to  such  of  his  countrymen  as  are  neither  naturalized  nor 
charged  with  any  breach  of  the  laws  of  the  country  in  which  they  reside, 
he  is  to  be  supported  by  a  friendly  government ;  for  it  is  a  law  in  all  civil- 
ized countries,  that  if  foreigners  must  submit  to  the  laws  of  the  country  in 
which  they  reside,  they,  and  a  fortiori  their  consuls,  must,  in  exchange  of 
that  respect  for  those  laws,  receive  due  protection,  that  protection,  in  fact, 
which  the  foreigners  have  invariably  enjoyed  in  this  country  up  to  the 
present  time.  Now,  foreigners  are  deprived  of  that  protection  unless  they 
become  citizens  of  the  United  States;  and  this  is  done  without  a  warning 
and  in  opposition  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States  concerning  the  mode  in 
which  foreigners  may  become  citizens  of  this  country.  The  undersigned 
must  remark  that  a  just  law  can  have  no  retroactive  action,  and  can  be  en- 
forced only  from  the  day  of  its  promulgation,  while  the. order  requires  that 
acts  should  have  been  done,  the  necessity  of  which  was  unforeseen,  especial- 
ly in  this  country. 

"  The  required  oath  is  contrary  not  only  to  the  rights,  duty  and  dignity 
of  foreigners,  who  are  all  'free  born,'  but  also  to  the  dignity  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  and  even  to  the  spirit  of  the  order  itself. 

ul.  Because  it  virtually  forces  a  certain  class  of  foreigners,  in  order  to 
save  their  property,  to  swear  'true  faith  and  allegiance'  to  the  United 
States,  and  thereby  to  '  renounce  and  abjure'  that  true  faith  and  allegiance 
which  they  owe  to  their  own  country  only,  while  naturalization  is  and  can 
be  but  an  act  of  free  will;  and  because  it  is  disgraceful  for  any  'free  man' 
to  do,  through  motives  of  material  interest,  those  moral  acts  which  are  re- 
pugnant to  his  conscience. 

"If  the  order  merely  required  the  English  oath  of  'allegiance,'  it  might 
be  argued,  according  to  the  definition  given  by  Blackstone  (I.,  p.  370),  that 
said  oath  signifies  only  the  submission  of  foreigners  to  the  police  laws  of 
the  country  in  which  they  reside ;  but  the  oath,  as  worded  in  the  '  order, 
is  a  virtual  act  of  naturalization.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States  might 
take  the  oath,  although  Art.  6  of  the  Federal  Constitution  and  the  act  o( 


456  THE    SHEEP   ANT>   THE    GOATS. 

Congress  of  June  1,  1789,  do  not  require  as  much.     But  no  consideration 
can  compel  a  foreigner  to  take  such  an  oath. 

"2.  Because,  if  according  to  the  order  the  'highest  title  known  was  real- 
ly that  of  an  American  citizen,'  it  would  be  the  very  reason  why  it  should 
be  sought  after  and  not  imposed  upon  the  unwilling,  whether  openly  or 
impliedly. 

"3.  Because,  while  the  order  advocates  the  '  neutrality  imposed  upon 
foreigners  by  their  sovereigns,'  it  virtually  tends  to  violate  that  neutrality, 
not  by  forcing  them  openly  to  take  up  arms  and  bravely  shed  their  blood 
in  defense  even  of  a  cause  that  is  not  their  own,  but  by  enjoining  upon 
them,  if  they  wish  to  redeem  their  property,  to  descend  to  the  level  of  spies 
and  denunciators  for  the  benefit  of  the  United  States. 

"  The  undersigned  will  close  by  remarking  that  their  countrymen,  since 
the  beginning  of  this  war,  have  been  neutral.  As  such  they  can  not  be  con- 
sidered and  treated  as  a  conquered  population.  The  conquered  may  ba 
submitted  to  exceptional  laws ;  but  neutral  foreigners  have  a  right  to  be 
treated  as  they  have  always  been  by  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
"  We  have  the  honor  to  be,  General,  your  most  obedient  servants, 

"  Juan  Callejon,  Consul  de  Espafia. 

"  Ch.  Mejan,  French  Consul. 

"  Jos.  Deynoodt,  Consul  of  Belgium. 

"  M.  W.  Benachi,  Greek  Consul. 

"  Joseph  Lanata,  Consul  of  Italy. 

"  B.  Teryaghi,  Vice-Consul. 
•  "  Ad.  Piaget,  Swiss  Consul." 

A  little  bird  whispered  in  the  ear  of  General  Butler  that  the 
author  of  this  letter  was  Mr.  George  Coppell,  whose  papers  had 
not  yet  arrived,  and  whose  signature,  therefore,  did  not  appear. 

general  butler  to  the  consuls. 

"  Head-quarters,  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
"New  Orleans,  La.,  June  16,  1862. 

"  Gentlemen  : — Your  protest  against  General  Order  No.  41  has  been  re- 
ceived. 

"  It  appears  more  like  a  labored  argument,  in  which  the  imagination  has 
been  drawn  on  for  the  facts  to  support  it.  "Were  it  not  that  some  of  the 
idiomatic  expressions  of  the  document  show  that  it  was  composed  by  some 
one  born  in  the  English  tongue,  I  should  have  supposed  that  many  of  the 
misconceptions  of  the  purport  of  the  order,  which  appear  in  the  protest, 
arose  from  an  imperfect  acquaintance  with  the  peculiarities  of  our  language. 

"  As  it  is,  I  am  obliged  to  believe  that  the  faithlessness  of  the  English- 


THE  SHEEP  AND  THE  GOATS.  451 

man  who  transmitted  the  order  to  you  and  wrote  the  protest,  will  account 
for  the  misapprehensions  under  which  you  labor  in  regard  to  its  terms. 

"  The  order  prescribes — 

"  1.  A  form  of  oath  to  be  taken  by  those  who  claim  to  be  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  and  those  only  who  desire  to  hold  office,  civil  or  military, 
under  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  who  desire  some  act  to  be  done  in 
their  favor  by  the  officers  of  the  United  States  in  this  department,  other 
than  protection  from  personal  violence,  which  is  afforded  to  all. 

"  With  that  oath,  of  course,  the  alien  has  nothing  to  do. 

"But  there  is  a  large  class  of  foreign  born  persons  here  who,  by  their 
acts,  have  lost  their  nationalities. 

"Familiar  examples  of  that  class  are  those  subjects  of  France  who,  in 
contravention  of  the  ''Code  Civile?  have,  without  authorization  by  the 
emperor,  joined  themselves  to  a  military  organization  of  a  foreign  state 
(a* affilierait  d  une  corporation  militaire  etrangdre),  or  received  milita- 
ry commissions  (fonctions  publiques,  conferees  par  un  gouvernement  etran- 
ger)  from  the  governor  thereof,  or  who  have  left  France  without  intention 
of  returning  (sans  esprit  de  retour),  or,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Greek  consul, 
have  taken  the  office  of  opener  and  examiner  of  letters  in  the  post-office  of 
the  Confederate  States,  or  the  Prussian  consul,  who  is  still  leading  a  re- 
cruited body  of  his  countrymen  in  the  rebel  army. 

"  As  many  of  such  aliens  had  been  naturalized,  and  many  of  the  bad 
men  among  them  had  concealed  the  fact  of  their  naturalization,  it  became 
necessary,  in  order  to  meet  the  case  of  these  bad  men,  to  prescribe  some 
rule  by  which  those  foreign  born  who  might  not  be  entitled  to  the  protec- 
tion of  their  several  governments,  or  had  heretofore  become  naturalized 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  might  be  distinguished  from  those  foreigners 
who  were  still  to  be  treated  as  neutrals. 

"  This  rule  must  be  a  comprehensive  one  and  one  easily  to  be  understood, 
because  it  was  for  the  guidance  of  subordinate  officers,  who  should  be  call- 
ed upon  to  administer  the  proper  oath. 

"  Therefore,  it  was  provided  that  all  who  had  resided  here  five  years — a 
length  of  time  which  would  seem  to  be  sufficient  evidence  that  they  had 
not  the  intention  of  returning  (esprit  de  retour),  and  who  should  not  have, 
in  that  time,  claimed  certificate  of  nationality,  called  commonly  a  'pro- 
tection' of  their  government,  should,  for  this  purpose,  be  deemed  prima 
facie,  of  course,  American  citizens,  and  should,  if  they  desired  any  favor 
or  protection  of  the  government,  save  from  violence,  take  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance. But  it  is  complained  that  the  order  farther  provides  that  they  must 
have  received  that  '  protection'  sixty  days  previous  to  the  date  of  the  order 
so  as  to  have  the  '  protection'  avail  them. 

"  The  reason  of  this  limitation  was  that,  as  some  of  the  consuls  had  gone 
to  the  rebel  army,  and  some  of  the  consuls  had  been  aiding  the  rebellion 


458  THE  SHEEP  AND   THE  GOATS. 

here,  and  as  '  protections1  had  been  given  by  some  of  the  consuls  to  those  who 
were  not  entitled  to  them,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  holders  to  evade 
the  blockade,  it  was  necessary  to  make  some  limitations  to  secure  good  faith. 

"  Indeed,  gentlemen,  you  will  remember  that  all  rules  and  regulations  are 
made  to  restrain  bad  men,  and  not  the  good. 

"  For  instance,  if  I  allowed  the  '  protections'  given  now  to  avail  for  this 
purpose,  that  Prussian  consul  might  give  them  to  the  whole  of  his  militia 
company  that  live  to  get  back ;  and  they  might  come,  claiming  to  be  neutrals, 
as  did  that  British  Guard  who  sent  their  arms  and  equipments  to  Beauregard. 

"  The  naturalization  laws  of  the  United  States  were  in  abeyance  for  want 
of  United  States  courts  here.  Their  provisions  permitted  all  foreigners 
who  had  resided  here  five  years  and  not  claimed  protection  of  their  govern- 
ment, who  felt  disposed  to  avail  themselves  of  them,  to  become  entitled 
to  the  high  privileges  of  an  American  citizen,  which  so  many  foreign- 
ers value  so  greatly  that  they  leave  their  own  prosperous,  peaceful,  and 
happy  countries  to  come  and  live  here,  even  although  allowed  to  enjoy 
those  privileges  in  a  limited  degree  only.  So  greatly  do  they  compliment 
us  upon  our  laws  that  they  prefer  to,  and  insist  upon,  stopping  here,  even 
at  the  risk  of  being  exposed  to  the  chances  of  our  intestine  war,  which 
chances  they  seem  willing  to  take,  in  preference  to  living  in  peace  at  home, 
under  laws  enacted  by  their  own  sovereigns.  But  it  is  said  that,  unless  for- 
eigners take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  they  will  not  be  allowed  a  '  passport.' 

"  This  is  an  entire  mistake,  and  probably  comes  from  confounding  a  'pass' 
through  my  lines,  which  I  grant  or  withhold  for  military  reasons,  with  a 
'passport,'  which  must  be  given  a  foreigner  by  his  own  government. 

"  The  order  refuses  all  '  passports'  to  American  citizens  who  do  not  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance ;  but  it  nowhere  meddles  with  the  '  passports'  of  for- 
eigners, with  which  I  have  uothing  to  do. 

"  There  is  nothing  compulsory  about  this  order. 

"  If  a  foreigner  desires  the  privileges  which  the  military  government  of 
this  department  accords  to  American  citizens,  let  him  take  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance ;  but  that  does  not  naturalize  him.  If  he  does  not  wish  to  do  so, 
but  chooses  to  be  an  honest  neutral,  then  let  him  not  take  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance, but  the  other  oath  set  forth  in  the  order. 

"  If  he  chooses  to  do  neither,  but  simply  to  remain  here  with  protection 
from  personal  violence,  a  privilege  he  has  not  enjoyed  in  this  city  for  many 
years  until  now,  let  him  be  quiet,  live  on,  keep  away  from  his  consul,  and 
be  happy.  For  honest  alien  neutrals  another  oath  was  provided,  which,  in 
my  judgment,  contains  nothing  but  Avhat  an  honest  and  honorable  neutral 
will  do  and  maintain,  and,  of  course,  only  that  which  he  will  promise  to  do. 

"  But  it  is  said  that  this  oath  compels  every  'foreigner  to  descend  to  the 
level  of  spies  and  denunciators  for  the  benefit  of  the  United  States.' 

"  There  is  no  possible  just  construction  of  language  which  will  give  any 


THE  SHEEP  AND  THE  GOATS.  459 

such  interpretation  to  the  order.  This  mistake  arises  from  a  misconception 
of  the  meaning  of  the  word  'conceal,'  so  false,  so  gross,  so  unjust  and  illit- 
erate, that  in  the  Englishman  who  penned  the  protest  sent  to  me  it  must 
have  been  intentional,  but  an  error  into  which  those  not  born  and  reared 
in  the  idioms  of  our  language  might  easily  have  fallen. 

u  The  oath  requires  him  who  takes  it  not  to  '  conceal'  any  wrong  that 
has  been,  or  is  about  to  be  done,  in  aid  or  comfort  of  the  enemies  of  the 
United  States. 

u  It  has  been  read  and  translated  to  you  as  if  it  required  you  to  reveal  all 
such  acts.     '  Conceal'  is  a  verb  active  in  our  language ;  '  concealment'  is  an 
act  done,  not  a  thing  suffered  by,  the  '  concealers.' 
"Let  me  illustrate  this  difference  of  meaning: 

"  If  I  am  passing  about  and  see  a  thief  picking  the  pocket  of  my  neigh- 
bor, and  I  say  nothing  about  it  unless  called  upon  by  a  proper  tribunal, 
that  is  not  '  concealment'  of  the  theft ;  but  if  I  throw  my  cloak  over  the 
thief  to  screen  him  from  the  police-officer  while  he  does  it,  I  then  '  conceal' 
the  theft.  Again,  if  I  know  that  my  neighbor  is  about  to  join  the  rebel  army, 
and  I  go  about  my  usual  business,  I  do  not  '  conceal'  the  fact ;  but  if,  upon 
being  inquired  of  by  the  proper  authority  as  to  where  my  neighbor  is  about  to 
go,  I  say  that  he  is  going  to  sea,  I  then  '  conceal'  his  acts  and  intentions. 

"  Now,  if  any  citizen  or  foreigner  means  to  '  conceal'  rebellious  or  traitor- 
ous acts  against  the  United  States,  in  the  sense  above  given,  it  will  be  much 
more  for  his  personal  comfort  that  he  gets  out  of  this  department  at  once. 
"Indeed,  gentlemen,  if  any  subject  of  a  foreign  state  does  not  like  our 
laws,  or  the  administration  of  them,  he  has  an  immediate,  effectual,  and  ap- 
propriate remedy  in  his  own  hands,  alike  pleasant  to  him  and  to  us ;  and 
that  is,  not  to  annoy  his  consul  with  complaints  of  those  laws  or  the  ad- 
ministration of  them,  or  his  consul  wearying  the  authorities  with  verbose 
protests,  but  simply  to  go  home — '  stay  not  on  the  order  of  his  going, 
but  go  at  once.'  Such  a  person  came  here  without  our  invitation ;  he  will 
be  parted  with  without  our  regrets. 

"  But  he  must  not  have  committed  crimes  against  our  laws,  and  then  ex- 
pect to  be  allowed  to  go  home  to  escape  the  punishment  of  thcso  crimes. 

"  I  must  beg,  gentlemen,  that  no  more  argumentative  protests  against 
my  orders  be  sent  to  me  by  yon  as  a  body.  If  any  consul  has  anything  to 
offer  for  my  consideration,  he  will  easily  learn  the  proper  mode  of  present- 
ing it.     It  is  no  part  of  your  duties  or  your  rights. 

"  I  have,  gentlemen,  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

"Bexj.  F.  Butler,  Major- General  Commanding. 

"  Messrs.  Ch.  Mejan,  French  Consul ;  Jttax  Callejon,  Consul  de  Espa- 
na ;  Jos.  Deyxoodt,  Consul  of  Belgium ;  M.  W.  Bexachi,  Greek  Consul ; 
Joseph  Laxata,  Consul  of  Italy ;  B.  Tejjyaghi,  Vice-Consul ;  Ad.  Piaget, 
Swiss  Consul." 
20 


4C0  THE  SHEEP  AND  THE  GOATS. 

Mr.  Coppell  had  a  word  to  say  in  his  own  name  : 

me.  coppell  to  geneeal  btttlee. 

"Bkitish  Consulate, 
"New  Oeleans,  La.,  June  14,  1862. 
"  Sie  : — I  beg  to  inform  you  that  great  doubt  exists  in  the  minds  of  British 
subjects,  who,  under  the  provisions  of  your  Order  No.  41,  are  called  upon 
to  subscribe  the  oaths  therein  set  forth,  as  to  the  consequences  of  compli- 
ance with  the  behests  of  that  order. 

"  I  would  therefore  respectfully  request  that  you  will  inform  me  whether 
the  oath  prescribed  in  the  first  instance  is  intended,  or,  in  your  understand- 
ing, can  be  construed  to  affect  the  natural  allegiance  they  owe  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  their  nativity. 

u  Objections  have  also  been  very  generally  urged  against  the  oath  pre- 
scribed to  duly  registered  aliens,  on  the  ground  that  it  imposes  on  them 
(in  words,  at  least)  the  office  of  spy,  and  forces  them  to  acts  inconsistent 
with  the  ordinary  obligations  of  probity,  honor  and  neutrality. 

"  Hoping  that  I  may  receive  such  explanations  as  may  obviate  the  diffi- 
culties suggested,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  Geoege  Coppell, 
"  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Acting  Consul." 

eeplt  feom  head-qttaetees. 

"  Head-qttaetees,  Depaetment  of  the  Gulf, 
"  New  Oeleans,  La.,  June  14,  1862. 
"  Sie  : — I  am  directed  by  the  major-general  commanding  to  inform  you 
that  no  answer  is  to  be  given  to  the  note  of  George  Coppell,  Esq.,  of  this 
date,  until  his  credentials  and  pretensions  are  recognized  by  his  own  gov- 
ernment and  the  government  of  the  United  States.  All  attempts  at  official 
action  on  Mr.  Coppell's  part  must  cease.  His  credentials  have  been  sought 
for,  but  not  exhibited.    I  have  the  honor  to  be 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"P.  Haggeett, 
"  Captain  and  Assistant  Adjutant- General." 

Mr.  Coppell,  however,  received  another  answer.  To  complete 
the  discomfiture  of  the  consuls,  General  Butler  employed  one  of 
his  very  happiest  expedients — a  measure  at  once  so  just  and  so 
witty,  as  to  extort  grim  laughter  and  sulky  approval  from  the 
sourest  rebels.  The  following  general  order  appeared  three  days 
after  the  date  of  the  general's  reply  to  the  consuls : 


THE  SHEEP  AND  THE  GOATS.  4G1 

"  Xew  Orleans,  June  19,  1862. 
"General  Order  No.  42. 

"  The  commanding  general  has  received  information  that  certain  of  the 
foreign  residents  in  this  department,  notwithstanding  the  explanations  of 
the  terms  of  the  oath  prescribed  in  General  Order  No.  41,  contained  in  his 
reply  to  the  foreign  consuls,  have  still  scruples  about  taking  that  oath. 

"Anxious  to  relieve  the  consciences  of  all  who  honestly  entertain  doubts 
upon  this  matter,  and  not  to  embarrass  any,  especially  neutrals,  by  his 
necessary  military  orders,  the  commanding  general  hereby  revises  General 
Order  No.  41,  so  far  as  to  permit  any  foreign  subject,  at  his  election,  to  take 
and  subscribe  the  following  oath,  instead  of  the  oath  as  set  forth  : 

"  I, ,  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  will,  to  the  best  of  my  ability, 

support,  protect,  and  defend  the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  So  help 
me  God! 

"  [Traduction.] 

"  Je, ,  jure  solennellement,  autant  qu'il  sera  en  moi,  de  soutenir, 

de  maintenir,  et  de  defendre  la  constitution  des  Etats-Unis.  Que  Dieu  me 
soit  en  aide ! 

"  The  general  is  sure  that  no  foreign  subject  can  object  to  this  oath,  as  it 
is  in  the  very  words  of  the  oath  taken  by  every  officer  of  the  European 
brigade,  prescribed  more  than  a  year  ago  in  '  Les  reglements  de  la  Legion 
Frangaise,  formee  a  la  Nouvelle  Orleans,  le  26  d'Avril,  1881,'  as  will  be  seen 
by  the  extract  below  (page  22),  and  claimed  as  an  act  of  the  strictest  neu- 
trality by  the  officers  taking  it,  and,  for  more  than  a  year,  has  passed  by  all 
the  foreign  consuls — so  far  as  he  is  informed — without  protest. 

"Serment  que  doivent  preter  tous  les  officiers  de  la  'Legion  Francaise.1 

"  State  of  Louisiana,  Parish  of  Orleans. 

"I, ,  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  will,  to  the  best  of  ability,  dis- 
charge the  duties  of of  the  French  Legion,  and  that  I  will  sup- 
port, protect,  and  defend  the  constitution  of  the  state  and  of  the  Confederate 
States.     So  help  me  God ! 

"  Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me. 

"  [Traduction.] 

"Etat  de  la  Louisiane,  Paroisse  d'Orleans. 

"  Je, ,  jure  solennellement  de  remplir,  autant  qu'il  sera  en  moi, 

les  devoirs  de de  la  Legion  Frangaise,  et  je  promets  de  soutenir, 

de  maintenir  et  de  defendre  la  constitution  de  l'Etat  et  celle  des  Etats  Con- 
federes.     Que  Dieu  me  soit  en  aide  ! 

"  Assermente  et  signe  devant  moi." 

I  think  this  must  be  pronounced  the  neatest  hit  of  the  kind  on 
record. 


462  THE  SHEEP  AND  THE  GOATS. 

The  oath-taking,  mean  while,  went  vigorously  on.  On  the  7th 
of  xiugust,  Colonel  French  had  the  pleasure  of  reporting  that  the 
oath  prescribed  to  citizens  had  been  taken  by  11,723  persons; 
the  foreign  neutrals'  oath,  by  2,499  persons ;  and  that  4,933  pri- 
vates and  211  officers  of  the  Confederate  army  had  given  the 
required  parole. 

This  was  the  more  gratifying  from  the  fact,  that  the  social  influ- 
ence of  the  city  was  all  employed  against  the  taking  of  the  oath. 
Ladies  refused  to  receive  gentlemen  who  were  known  to  have 
taken  it.  Gentlemen  were  notified  to  leave  their  boarding-houses 
who  had  thus  avowed  their  attachment  to  the  Union.  Books  were 
kept,  by  noted  secessionists,  in  which  the  names  of  such  were  re- 
corded for  future  vengeance.  Men  who  were  accused  of  having 
taken  the  oath  thought  it  necessary,  in  some  instances,  to  resent 
the  charge  as  a  calumny.*     Others  who  had  recently  taken  it, 

*  A  perfectly  well-informed  officer  related  the  following  incidents : 

"  Holt's  drinking- saloon  was  one  of  the  most  fashionable  in  the  city.  The  proprietor,  the  son 
of  the  famous  New  York  hotel-keeper  of  that  name,  kept  fast  horses,  a  fashionable  private  resi- 
dence, and  received  his  income  by  the  hundred  dollars  a  day.  In  an  evil  hour  secession  seized 
upon  the  land,  and  Holt  was  induced  to  issue  shinplasters.  His  reputation  for  wealth  and 
business  profits  made  them  popular,  and  inducements  were  held  out  for  immense  issues. 
Gradually,  however,  business  fell  off,  and  Holt,  when  General  Butler  ordered  that  personal 
paper  money  should  be  redeemed  by  bank-notes,  found  it  impossible  to  comply  with  the  procla- 
mation, and  this  inability  was  increased  by  the  faci  that  he  had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and 
his  regular  customers  refused,  therefore,  to  be  comforted  at  his  house.  The  finale  was  that  Hoifc 
was  sold  out,  and  his  establishment,  repainted  and  restocked,  opened  under  the  auspices  of  one 
John  Hawkins.  To  give  the  place  the  due  amount  of  eclat,  Captain  Clark,  of  the  Delta,  know- 
ing that  it  was  against  the  law  for  any  one  to  sell  liquor  in  the  city,  unless  by  a  person  who  had 
taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  obtained  a  license,  caused  it  to  be  published  that  at  last  our  citi- 
zens were  blessed  with  a  'Union  drinking-saloon,'  and  at  the  same  time  invited  all  persons  who 
loved  the  stars  and  stripes  to  patronize  this  new  establishment. 

"This  flattering  notice  fell  upon  John  Hawkins  as  a  thunderbolt ;  he  frantically  rushed  over 
to  the  newspaper  office  and  protested  that  he  was  a  rebel,  and  that  he  relied  upon  his  secession 
friends  for  patronage ;  he  declared  that  he  was  a  ruined  man  unless  something  was  done  to  im- 
mediately purge  his  fair  fame  of  any  taint  of  loyalty  to  his  native  land.  Captain  Clark,  who 
fully  appreciated  the  unfortunate  publican's  feelings,  and  with  the  spirit  and  liberality  of  a 
chivalrous  editor,  offered  his  columns  for  an  explanation,  which  offer  resulted  in  the  publication 
of  the  following  card : 

"'Hawkins  House. 
♦'• '  To  the  Editor  oftlie  New  Orleans  Delta  : 

"  'The  editorial  statement  in  your  journal  of  this  morning,  to  the  effect  that  I  have  taken  tho 
oath  of  allegiance,  is  a  fabrication.  John  Hawkins. 

'"New  Orleans,  July  17, 1862.' 

"  Secessia  was  delighted ;  John's  friends  crowded  his  precincts  all  day,  and  drank  to  John's 
health,  and  at  John's  expense.  The  dawn  of  the  following  morning  promised  a  brilliant  future; 
but,  alas!  Deputy  provost-marshal  Colonel  Stafford,  whose  business  it  is  to  see  that  public 
drinking-house  keepers  have  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance,  sent  after  Mr.  Hawkins,  and  asked  him 
what  right  ha  had  to  keep  a  shop  opeu  without  a  license,  and  farther  inquired  if  John  did  not 


THE    SHEEP    AND   THE    GOATS.  463 

boasted  that  they  had  done  so  only  to  secure  the  temporary  ad- 
vantages attached  to  the  act,  and  avowed  their  readiness  to  take 
as  many  oaths  as  Picayune  Butler  thought  it  necessary  to  impose ; 
as  no  faith  was  to  be  kept  with  Yankees.  All  these  things  were 
noted  by  General  Butler,  who  "  bided  his  time." 

Another  of  the  general's  precautionary  measures,  was  the  dis- 
arming of  New  Orleans.  The  city  was  full  of  arms.  Nearly  every 
house,  of  any  pretensions,  contained  some,  and.  nearly  every  well- 
dressed  man  carried  a  weapon  of  some  kind.  At  first,  the  general 
had  no  intention  of  depriving  private  persons  of  their  arms,  since 
he  had  assured  the  public,  in  his  proclamation,  that  private  property 
should  be  respected.  Under  the  general  order,  commanding  the 
disclosure  and  surrender  of  Confederate  property,  a  considerable 
quantity  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war  were  seized ;  but  the  most 
virulent  of  the  rebels  were  still  allowed  the  inestimable  privilege  of 
carrying  a  pocketful  of  revolvers,  and  a  bowie-knife  parallel  to  the 
back  bone.  The  event  which  led  to  the  universal  disarming  of  the 
city  was  this :  In  August,  on  the  bloody  field  of  Baton  Rouge,  were 
found  dead  and  wounded  citizens  of  Baton  Rouge,  wearing  still 
their  usual  arms,  who,  on  the  very  evening  before  the  attack,  had 
mingled  familiarly  with  the  officers  of  the  Union  army,  and  who,  on 
the  approach  of  Breckinridge,  had  hastened  to  join  his  troops,  and 
to  engage  in  the  conflict.  Lieutenant  Weitzel  reported  this  sig- 
nificant fact  to  General  Butler,  who  immediately  determined  to 
compel  the  surrender  of  every  private  weapon  in  New  Orleans. 
The  requisite  orders  were  issued;  arms  in  great  quantities  were 
brought  in  and  safely  deposited ;  for  all  of  which  receipts  were  given. 

The  French  consul  objected,  of  course.  His  protest  had  only  the 
effect  of  adding  one  more  to  General  Butler's  amusing  consular 
letters. 

the  french  consul  to  lieutenant  weitzel. 

"  Feench  Consulate  at  New  Orleans, 
"New  Orleans,  August  12,  1862. 
"  Sie  : — The  new  order  of  the  day,  which  has  been  published  this  morn- 
ing, and  by  which  you  require  that  all  and  whatever  arms  which  may  be 

know  that  he  omld  not  get  a  license  unless  he  took  oath  to  be  a  good  citizen  under  the  national 
government.  This  interference  on  the  part  of  General  Butler  and  his  subordinates  with  the  un- 
alienable rights  of  Secessia  has,  of  course,  thrown  a  new  brand  of  discord  into  the  community,  and 
the  fearful  catastrophe  seems  impending,  that  will  compel  the  habitues  of  the  fashionable  drink- 
ing-saloons  to  have  the  slow  poison  dealt  out  by  loyal  citizens." 


464  THE  SHEEP  AND  THE  GOATS. 

in  the  possession  of  the  people  of  this  city,  must  be  delivered  up,  has  caused 
the  most  serious  alarm  among  the  French  subjects  of  New  Orleans. 

"  Foreigners,  sir,  and  particularly  Frenchmen,  have,  notwithstanding  the 
accusations  brought  against  some  of  them  by  certain  persons,  sacrificed 
everything  to  maintain,  during  the  actual  conflict,  the  neutrality  imposed 
upon  them. 

"When  arms  were  delivered  them  by  the  municipal  authorities,  they  only 
used  them  to  maintain  order  and  defend  personal  property ;  and  those  arms 
have  since  been  almost  all  returned. 

"And  it  now  appears,  according  to  the  tenor  of  your  order  of  to-day, 
that  French  subjects,  as  well  as  citizens,  are  required  to  surrender  their 
personal  arms,  which  could  only  be  used  in  self-defense. 

"For  some  time  past,  unmistakable  signs  have  manifested  themselves 
among  the  servile  population  of  the  city  and  surrounding  country,  of  their 
intention  to  break  the  bonds  which  bind  them  to  their  masters,  and  many 
persons  apprehend  an  actual  revolt. 

"  It  is  these  signs,  this  prospect  of  finding  ourselves  completely  unarmed, 
in  the  presence  of  a  population  from  which  the  greatest  excesses  are  feared, 
that  we  are  above  all  things  justly  alarmed ;  for  the  result  of  such  a  state 
of  things  would  fall  on  all  alike  who  were  left  without  the  means  of  self- 
defense. 

"  It  is  not  denied  that  the  protection  of  the  United  States  government 
would  be  extended  to  them  in  such  an  event,  but  that  protection  could  not 
be  effective  at  all  times  and  in  all  places,  nor  provide  against  those  internal 
enemies,  whose  unrestrained  language  and  manners  are  constantly  increas- 
ing, and  who  are  but  partially  kept  in  subjection  by  the  conviction  that 
their  masters  are  armed. 

"I  submit  to  you,  sir,  these  observations,  with  the  request  that  you  take 
them  into  consideration. 

"Please  accept,  sir,  the  assurance  of  my  high  esteem. 

"  The  Consul  of  France, 

"  Count  Mejan. 

"Lieutenant  Weitzel,  U.  S.  Engineers,  and  Assistant  Military  Com- 
mandant of  New  Orleans." 

general  butler  to  the  french  consul. 

"  Head-quarters,  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
"  Few  Orleans,  August  14,  1862. 
"Sir: — Your  official  note  to  Lieutenant  Weitzel  has  been  forwarded 
to  me. 

"  I  see  no  just  cause  of  complaint  against  the  order  requiring  the  arms 
of  private  citizens  to  be  given  up.     It  is  the  usual  course  pursued  in  cities 


THE    SHEEP   AND   THE   GOATS.  4i>5 

similarly  situated  to  this,  even  without  any  exterior  force  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. 

"You  will  observe  that  it  will  not  do  to  trust  to  mere  professions  of  neu- 
trality. I  trust  most  of  your  countrymen  are  in  good  faith  neutral ;  but  it 
is  unfortunately  true  that  some  of  them  are  not.  This  causes  the  good,  of 
necessity,  to  suffer  for  the  acts  of  the  bad. 

"  I  take  leave  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact,  that  the  United  States 
forces  gave  every  immunity  to  Monsieur  Bonnegrass,  who  claimed  to  bt 
the  French  consul  at  Baton  Eouge ;  allowed  him  to  keep  his  arms,  and  re- 
lied upon  his  neutrality ;  but  his  son  was  taken  prisoner  on  the  battle-field 
in  arms  against  us. 

"  You  will  also  do  me  the  favor  to  remember  that  very  few  of  the  French 
subjects  here  have  taken  the  oath  of  neutrality,  which  was  offered  to,  but 
not  required  of  them,  by  my  Order  No.  41,  although  all  the  officers  of  the 
French  Legion  had,  with  your  knowledge  and  assent,  taken  the  oath  to 
support  the  constitution  of  the  Confederate  States.  Thus  you  see  I  have 
no  guarantee  for  the  good  faith  of  bad  men. 

"I  do  not  understand  how  it  is  that  arms  are  altered  in  their  effective- 
ness by  being  '  personal  property,'  nor  do  I  see  how  arms  which  will  serve 
for  personal  defense  ('  qui  ne  peuvent  servir  que  pour  leur  defense  person- 
nelle'),  can  not  be  as  effectually  used  for  offensive  warfare. 

u  Of  the  disquiet  of  which  you  say  there  are  signs  manifesting  them- 
selves among  the  black  population,  from  a  desire  to  break  their  bonds, 
('  certaines  dispositions  a,  rompre  les  liens  qui  les  attachent  a  leurs  maitres'), 
I  have  been  a  not  inattentive  observer,  without'  wonder,  because  it  would 
seem  natural,  when  their  masters  had  set  them  the  example  of  rebellion 
against  constituted  authorities,  that  the  negroes,  being  an  imitative  race, 
should  do  likewise. 

"  But  surely  the  representative  of  the  emperor,  who  does  not  tolerate 
slavery  in  France,  does  not  desire  his  countrymen  to  be  armed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  preventing  the  negroes  from  breaking  their  bonds. 

"  Let  me  assure  you  that  the  protection  of  the  United  States  against  vio- 
lence, either  by  negroes  or  white  men,  whether  citizens  or  foreign,  will 
continue  to  be  as  perfect  as  it  has  been  since  our  advent  here ;  and  far 
more  so,  manifesting  itself  at  all  moments  and  everywhere  ('  tous  les  in- 
stants et  partout'),  than  any  improvised  citizens'  organization  can  be. 

"Whenever  the  inhabitants  of  this  city  will,  by  a  public  and  united  act, 
show  both  their  loyalty  and  neutrality,  I  shall  be  glad  of  their  aid  to  keep 
the  peace,  and  indeed  to  restore  the  city  to  them.  Till  that  time,  however, 
I  must  require  the  arms  of  all  the  inhabitants,  white  and  black,  to  be 
under  my  control.     I  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Benj.  F.  Butlek,  Major- General  Commanding. 

"  To  Count  Mejax,  French  Consul." 


466  THE    SHEEP   AND   THE    GOATS. 

To  secure  the  surrender  of  arms  still  secreted,  the  following 
stringent  general  order  was  issued : 

"New  Orleans,  August  16,  1882. 

"  Ordered,  That  after  Tuesday,  19th  inst.,  there  be  paid  for  information 
leading  to  the  discovery  of  weapons  not  held  under  a  written  permit  from 
the  United  States  authorities,  but  retained  and  concealed  by  the  keeper* 
thereof,  the  sums  following  : 

For  each  serviceable  gun,  musket  or  rifle $  10 

"        revolver 7 

"        pistol  5 

"        sabre  or  officer's  sword 5 

"        dirk,  dagger,  bowie-knife  or  sword-cane 3 

"  Said  arms  to  be  confiscated,  and  the  keeper  so  concealing  them  to  be 
punished  by  imprisonment. 

"  The  crime  being  an  overt  act  of  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  whether  by  a  citizen  or  an  alien,  works  a  forfeiture  of  the 
property  of  the  offender,  and,  therefore,  every  slave  giving  information  that 
shall  discover  the  concealed  arms  of  his  or  her  master,  shall  be  held  to  be 
emancipated. 

"  II.  As  the  United  States  authorities  have  disarmed  the  inhabitants  of 
the  parish  of  Orleans,  and  as  some  fearful  citizens  seem  to  think  it  neces 
sary  that  they  should  have  arms  to  protect  themselves  from  violence,  it  is 
ordered, 

"That  hereafter,  the  offenses  of  robbery  by  violence  or  aggravates 
assault  that  ought  to  be  replied  by  the  use  of  deadly  weapons,  burglaries 
rapes  and  murders,  whether  committed  by  blacks  or  whites,  will  be,  on  con 
viction,  punished  by  death." 

Union  men,  known  and  tried,  were  permitted  to  keep  their  arms 
To  one  or  two  old  soldiers  of  the  war  of  1812,  the  privilege  was 
accorded  of  retaining  the  weapons  once  honorably  borne  in  the  ser- 
vice of  their  country.  Many  weapons  were,  doubtless,  still  secre- 
ted ;  but,  for  all  purposes  of  co-operation  with  an  attacking  force, 
New  Orleans  was  disarmed.  The  whole  number  of  surrendered 
weapons  was  about  six  thousand. 


THE   CONFISCATION   ACT.  467 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE   CONFISCATION   ACT. 

The  act  of  Congress  confiscating  the  property  of  rebellious  citi- 
zens was  approved  July  17th. 

Before  the  passage  of  the  act,  General  Butler  had  taken  the 
liberty  to  "  sequester"  the  estates  of  those  two  notorious  traitors, 
General  Twiggs  and  John  Slidell,  both  of  whom  possessed  large 
property  in  New  Orleans.  These  estates  he  held  for  the  adjudica- 
tion of  the  government,  and,  in  the  mean  time,  selected  the  spacious 
mansion  of  General  Twiggs  for  his  own  residence  and  that  of  a 
portion  of  his  staff.  Among  the  papers  found  in  this  house  were 
certain  letters  which  tended  to  show  that  Twiggs  had  sought  the 
command  in  Texas  with  a  view  to  the  betrayal  of  his  trust,  a  crime 
only  once  paralleled  in  the  history  of  the  country.  Twiggs  fled 
from  New  Orleans  on  the  approach  of  the  fleet,  conscious  that 
such  turpitude  as  his  could  not  fail  to  meet  its  just  retribution.  He 
died  soon  after,  but  not  before  he  had  heard  that  the  flag  of  his  be- 
trayed country  floated  over  his  residence  as  the  head-quarters  of 
the  army  of  occupation . 

Three  swords,  presented  to  him  for  his  gallantry  in  Mexico,  one 
by  Congress,  one  by  the  state  of  Georgia,  his  native  state,  one  by 
Augusta,  his  native  city,  were  left  behind  in  the  custody  of  a 
young  lady,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  General  Butler.  The  young 
lady  claimed  them  as  her  own.  She  said  that  General  Twiggs  had 
given  them  to  her  on  new-year's  day,  with  a  box  of  family  silver, 
alleging  as  a  reason  for  this  strange  gift  the  recent  death  of  a  be- 
loved niece  to  whom  he  had  previously  bequeathed  them.  Three 
facts  were  elicited  which  induced  the  general  to  set  aside  her  claim. 
One  was,  that  Twiggs  had  brought  the  articles  to  the  young  lady's 
residence,  not  on  new-year's  day,  but  at  the  moment  of  his  flight 
from  the  city.  Another  was,  that  she  had  never  mentioned  so  ex- 
traordinary a  present  to  any  member  of  her  family — as  appeared 
on  the  separate  examination  of  each.  Another  was,  that  General 
Twisrgs  had  left  with  the  articles  the  document  following:  "I 
20* 


408  THE    CONFISCATION   ACT. 

leave  my  swords  to  Miss  Rowena  Florence,  and  box  of  silver. 
New  Orleans,  April  25,  1862.  D.  E.  Twiggs  :"  which  was  hastily 
written  in  the  carriage  at  the  door. 

General  Butler  ventured  to  disbelieve  Miss  Rowena  Florence, 
and  sent  the  swords  to  the  president  of  the  United  States.  He 
suggested  that  the  one  presented  by  congress  should  be  given  to 
some  officer  distinguished  in  the  war ;  that  the  one  given  by  the 
state  of  Georgia,  should  be  deposited  at  the  military  academy  at 
West  Point,  with  a  suitable  inscription,  as  a  warning  to  the  cadets ; 
and  that  the  third  should  be  placed  in  the  patent  office  as  a  me- 
mento of  the  folly  of  such  an  "  invention  "  as  secession.  In  for- 
warding the  swords  to  congress,  the  president  remarked,  that  if 
either  of  them  were  presented  to  an  officer  of  the  army,  "  General 
Butler  is  entitled  to  the  first  consideration." 

The  sword  voted  by  Kentucky  to  General  Zachary  Taylor,  was 
rescued  by  General  Butler  from  disloyal  hands  in  New  Orleans. 
He  sent  it  to  the  son  of  the  late  president — Brigadier-General  Jo- 
seph Taylor  of  the  Union  army. 

The  confiscation  act,  it  will  be  remembered,  divided  rebels  into 
two  classes.  The  property  of  one  class  was  to  be  confiscated  at 
'  once,  or  as  soon  as  it  fell  into  the  possession  of  the  United  States  ; 
the  property  of  the  other  class  was  to  be  confiscated  after  sixty 
days'  warning.  The  first  class  consisted  of  all  military  and  naval 
officers  commanding  rebels  in  arms ;  the  president,  vice  president, 
judges,  members  of  congress,  cabinet  ministers,  foreign  emissaries, 
and  other  agents  of  the  Confederate  States ;  the  governors  and 
judges  of  seceded  states ;  in  short,  all  who  hold  office  under  the 
Confederate  government,  or  under  the  government  of  a  seceded 
state,  as  well  as  citizens  of  loyal  states  who  gave  aid  and  comfort 
to  the  rebellion.  The  second  class  included  the  great  mass  of  the 
privates  in  the  Confederate  army  and  navy,  and  all  unofficial  abet- 
tors of  the  rebellion.  The  property  of  these  last  was  to  be  de- 
clared confiscated  sixty  days  after  the  date  of  the  president's  proc- 
lamation warning  them  to  lay  down  their  arms  and  return  to  their 
allegiance.  As  this  proclamation  was  issued  on  the  25th  of  Julv 
the  days  of  grace  expired  on  the  23d  of  September. 

With  this  explanation,  the  reader  will  understand  the  object  of 
the  following  general  order,  and  will  be  able  to  imagine  its  effect 
upon  the  secessionists  of  New  Orleans  : 


THE    CONFISCATION   ACT.  469 

";New  Orleans,  Sept.  13, 1862. 

"  As  in  the  course  of  ten  days  it  may  become  necessary  to  distinguish  the 
disloyal  from  the  loyal  citizens  and  honest  neutral  foreigners  residing  in 
this  department : 

"  It  is  ordered,  That  each  neutral  foreigner,  resident  in  this  department, 
shall  present  himself,  with  the  evidence  of  his  nationality,  to  the  nearest 
provost-marshal  for  registration  of  himself  and  his  family. 

"This  registration  shall  include  the  following  particulars: 

"  The  country  of  birth. 

u  The  length  of  time  the  person  has  resided  within  the  United  States. 

"  The  names  of  his  family. 

"  The  present  place  of  residence,  by  street,  number  or  other  description. 

"  The  occupation. 

"The  date  of  protection  or  certificate  of  nationality,  which  shall  be  in- 
dorsed by  the  passport-clerk,  'registered,'  with  date  of  register. 

"  All  false  or  simulated  claims  of  foreign  allegiance,  by  native  or  natural- 
ized citizens,  will  be  severely  punished." 

This  premonition  of  coming  retribution  called  attention  anew  to 
the  clause  of  the  confiscation  act  which  declared  all  conveyances  of 
property  made  after  the  expiration  of  the  sixty  days  to  be  void. 
Instantly  there  began  such  a  universal  transferring  of  property  as 
no  city  had  ever  before  seen.  Property  was  given  away  ;  proper- 
ty was  sold  for  next  to  nothing  ;  all  the  known  expedients  for  get- 
ting rid  of  property  were  employed  ;  until  it  seemed  probable  that 
by  the  23d  of  September,  not  a  rebel  in  New  Orleans  wTould  be 
found  to  possess  anything  whatever,  and  the  entire  wealth  of  the 
city  would  be  held  by  that  portion  of  the  people  who  had  taken  the 
oath  of  allegiance,  or  by  parties  at  a  great  distance,  and  inaccessi- 
ble, or  by  minors  and  women.  General  Butler  determined  to  use 
his  autocratic  authority  to  put  a  stop  to  these  fictitious  transfers. 
The  following  general  order  accomplished  this  purpose. 

"iSTEW  Orleans,  Sept.  1862. 

"I.  All  transfers  of  property,  or  rights  of  property,  real,  mixed,  personal 
or  incorporeal,  except  necessary  food,  medicine  and  clothing,  either  by 
way  of  sale,  gift,  pledge,  payment,  lease  or  loan,  by  an  inhabitant  of  this 
department,  who  has  not  returned  to  his  or  her  allegiance  to  the  United 
States  (having  once  been  a  citizen  thereof),  are  forbidden  and  void,  and 
the  person  transferring  and  the  person  receiving  shall  be  punished  by  fine 
or  imprisonment,  or  both. 

"  II.  All  registers  of  the  transfer  of  certificates  of  stock  or  shares  in  any 


470  THE    CONFISCATION   ACT. 

incorporated  or  joint-stock  company  or  association,  in  which  any  inhabitant 
of  this  department,  who  has  not  returned  to  his  or  her  allegiance  to  the 
United  States  (having  once  been  a  citizen  thereof),  has  any  interest,  are 
forbidden,  and  the  clerk  or  other  officer  making  or  recording  tne  transfer 
will  be  held  equally  guilty  with  the  transferrer." 

And  more.  Some  wise  men  of  New  Orleans,  foreseeing  the  evil, 
had  long  ago  reduced  themselves  to  fictitious  beggary.  The  de- 
cisions of  Mr.  Reverdy  Johnson,  sustained  by  the  government,  had 
given  rise  to  the  impression  that  papers  made  out  in  the  forms  of 
law,  would  be  permitted  to  nullify  an  act  of  Congress,  as  well  as 
set  at  naught  the  decrees  of  General  Butler.  Many  men  of  wealth 
had  acted  upon  this  impression,  "  making  over  "  valuable  estates  to 
others,  for  considerations  that  were  ridiculously  small.  General 
Butler  seized  and  "  sequestered"  some  property  thus  transferred, 
holding  it  for  the  government  to  decide  upon  the  legality  of  such 
proceedings.  One  noted  case  of  this  kind  he  selected  as  a  test, 
and  submitted  it  to  the  secretary  of  state.  The  dispatch  in  which 
the  particulars  were  detailed,  shall  be  presented  here,  for  the  light 
it  throws  upon  the  state  of  things  in  New  Orleans  and  the  peculiar 
difficulties  of  General  Butler's  position.  It  is  fair  to  guess  that 
this  dispatch  had  something  to  do  with  General  Bntler's  recall  from 
the  Department  of  the  Gulf, — a  measure  which  was  not  suggested 
by  the  president. 

general  butler  to  mr.  seward. 

"Head-quarters,  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
"New  Orleans,  September  19,  1862. 
"  Hon.  "William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State : 

"  Sir  : — I  have  the  honor  to  report  to  you  the  following  facts  : 

"  0.  McDonald  Fago,  a  British  subject,  resident  many  years  in  New  Or- 
leans, is  about  to  make  claim  to  the  property  of  Wright  &  Allen  in  New 
Orleans,  which  has  been  taken  possession  of  by  the  United  States  authori- 
ties here  under  the  following  state  of  facts : 

"  Wright  &  Allen  are  cotton-brokers,  who  claim  to  have  property  outside 
of  New  Orleans  of  two  millions  of  dollars.  They  are  most  rabid  rebels, 
and  were  of  those  who  published  a  card  advising  the  planters  not  to  send 
forward  their  crop  of  cotton  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  foreign  intervention. 

"  Soon  after  wo  came  to  New  Orleans,  they  mortgaged  their  real  estate 
here,  consisting  of  a  house,  for  $60,000,  to  planters  in  the  state  of  Arkansas, 
and  then  sold  the  equity,  together  with  their  furniture,  for  $5,000  to  Mr. 
Fago ;  paying  about  four  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum  interest 


THE   COISTISCATICXN-  ACT.  4*71 

on  the  property,  and  to  receive  nothing.  His  only  payment,  however,  was 
by  his  own  note  in  twelve  months,  which  was  sent  to  their  friend,  the 
planter  in  Arkansas. 

"  Wright  &  Allen  were  then  openly  boasting  that  they  would  not  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  were  encouraging  others  to 
refuse  and  stand  by  secession.  In  order  to  divest  themselves  of  the  last 
vestige  of  visible  property  upon  which  the  confiscation  act  could  take  effect, 
having  given  to  the  widow  of  their  deceased  partner,  an  Irish  woman,  a 
note  or  notes  for  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  they  then  sell  her 
their  plate  for  that  amount,  and  then  have  it  shipped  under  another  name 
to  Liverpool. 

"•  A  large  number  of  others  are  following  their  example ;  and,  indeed, 
all  the  property  of  New  Orleans  is  changing  hands  into  those  of  foreigners 
and  women,  to  avoid  the  consequences  of  the  confiscation  act. 

"  Believing  all  this  to  be  deplorable,  I  have  resolved  to  make  this  a  test 
case,  and  have  seized  this  property,  and  intend  to  hold  it  where  it  is  until 
the  matter  can  be  submitted  to  the  courts. 

u  Mr.  Fago  has  sent  to  Washington  to  have  this  property  given  up  as  a 
test  case.  If  the  course  of  authority  here  is  interfered  with  in  this  case,  it 
will  be  next  to  impossible  to  maintain  order  in  this  city.  This  Mr.  Fago 
has  first  had  a  large  amount  of  sugar,  belonging  to  an  aid  of  Governor 
Moore,  given  up  to  him  by  the  decision  of  Eeverdy  Johnson.  Emboldened 
by  this  experiment  he  proposes  to  try  once  more.  If  successful,  I  should 
prefer  that  the  government  would  get  some  one  else  to  hold  New  Orleans 
instead  of  myself.  Indeed,  sir,  I  beg  leave  to  add,  that  another  such  com- 
missioner as  Mr.  Johnson  sent  to  New  Orleans  would  render  the  city  un- 
tenable. The  town  itself  got  into  such  a  state  while  Mr.  Johnson  was 
here,  that  he  confessed  to  me  that  he  could  hardly  sleep  from  nervousness 
from  fear  of  a  rising,  and  hurried  away,  hardly  completing  his  work,  as 
soon  as  he  heard  Baton  Rouge  was  about  to  be  attacked. 

"  The  result  of  his  mission  here  has  caused  it  to  be  understood  that  I  am 
not  supported  by  the  government;  that  I  am  soon  to  be  relieved;  that  all 
my  acts  are  to  be  overhauled,  and  that  a  rebel  may  do  anything  he  pleases 
in  the  city,  as  the  worst  may  be  a  few  days'  imprisonment,  when  my  sue- 
cessor  will  come  and  he  will  be  released. 

"  To  such  an  extent  has  this  thing  gone,  that  inmates  of  the  parish  prison, 
sent  there  for  grand  larceny,  robbery,  &c,  in  humble  imitation  of  the  for- 
eign consuls,  have  agreed  together  to  send  an  agent  to  Washington  to  ask 
for  a  commissioner  to  investigate  charges  made  by  these  thieves  against 
the  provost-marshal,  by  whose  vigilance  they  were  detected. 
-  "  Alexander  the  coppersmith,  by  his  cry,  •  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephe- 
sians'  ('  the  institution  of  slavery  is  in  danger'),  did  me  much  harm  in 
Louisiana,  from  the  effects  of  which  lam  just  recovering;  and  the  only 


472  THE   CONFISCATION   ACT. 

fear  I  now  have  is,  that  if  the  last  accounts  are  true,  Mr.  Johnson  will  have 
so  much  more  nervous  apprehension  for  his  personal  safety  in  Baltimore 
than  he  had  in  New  Orleans,  that  he  will  want  to  come  back  here,  now  the 
yellow  fever  season  is  over,  as  to  a  place  of  security.* 

"  I  have  done  myself  the  honor  to  make  this  detail  of  the  case  at  length 
to  the  state  department,  so  that  all  the  facts  are  before  it  upon  which  I  act. 
The  inferences  from  those  facts  must,  from  the  nature  of  testimony,  be  left 
to  my  judgment  until  the  courts  can  act  authoritatively  in  the  matter. 

"  Another  reason  why  I  have  detailed  the  facts  is,  that  in  the  reports  of 
Mr.  Johnson  furnished  to  the  consuls  to  be  read  here,  every  fact  is  re- 
pressed which  would  form  a  shadow  of  justification  for  my  acts,  and  ex 
parte  affidavits  of  parties  accused  by  me  of  fraudulent  transfers  of  large 
amounts  of  property  are  the  r-ole  basis  of  the  report. 

uTrue.  by  that  report  more  than  three-quarters  of  a  million  of  specie 
is  placed  in  the  hands  of  one  Forstall,  a  rebel,  a  leading  member  of  the 
'  Southern  Independent  Association,'  a  league  wherein  each  member  bound 
himself  by  a  horrid  and  impious  oath  '  to  resist  unto  death  itself  all  attempts 
to  restore  the  Union.'  A  confrere  of  Pierre  Soule  in  the  committee  of  the 
city  which  destroyed  more  than  ten  millions  of  property  by  fire,  to  prevent 
its  coming  into  the  hands  of  the  United  States  authorities,  when  the  fleet 
passed  the  forts. 

"  I  beg  of  you,  sir,  to  consider  that  I  mention  the  characteristics  of  this 
report,  not  in  any  tone  of  complaint  of  the  state  department.  If  it  is  neces- 
sary to  suppress  facts,  to  impugn  the  motives  and  disown  the  acts  of  a 
commanding  officer  of  the  army  in  the  field,  or  to  publish  to  those  plotting 
the  destruction  of  the  republic,  that  lie  has  had  control  of  public  affairs  in 
New  Orleans  taken  from  him  and  transferred  to  a  subordinate,  because  of 
the  harshness  of  his  administration,  as  was  done  in  the  dispatch  to  the 
minister  of  the  Netherlands,  even  if  the  fact  is  not  true,  I  bow  to  the 
mandate  of  '  state  necessity'  without  a  murmur.  I  have  made  larger  sacri- 
fices than  this  for  my  country,  and  am  prepared  for  still  greater,  if  need  be, 
but  I  only  wish  to  make  them  when  they  will  be  useful,  and  therefore 
have  painted  the  effect  of  the  commission,  report,  and  dispatch  upon  a  tur- 
bulent, rebellious,  uneasy,  excitable,  vindictive,  brutalized,  half  foreign 
population,  maddened  by  exaggerated  reports  of  the  actions  of  their  fellows, 
the  fall  of  the  national  capital,  the  invasion  of  the  North,  and  excited  to 
insubordination  by  the  double  hope,  that  either  by  the  success  of  the  arms 
of  their  brethren,  or  the  interference  of  the  national  executive  in  their  be- 
half, they  shall  soon  be  released  from  the  only  government  which  has  ever 
held  the  city  in  quiet  order,  or  unplundering  peace.  Awaiting  instructions, 
"  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

"Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Major- General  Commanding.'1'' 

*  The  retel  army  was  then  In  Maryland. 


THE    CONFISCATION   ACT.  473 

This  letter  clearly  marks  the  point  of  divergence  between  the 
two  modes  of  dealing  with  the  rebellion.  As  the  reports  of  Mr. 
Johnston  and  the  correspondence  of  Mr.  Seward  with  Mr.  Van  Lim- 
burgh  have  been  published,  it  is  but  fair  that  this  dispatch  should 
be  also  printed.  Whether  the  confiscation  act  was  a  politic  or  an 
impolitic  measure  is  a  question  upon  which  honest  and  patriotic 
men  may  differ — do  differ.  But  the  act  having  been  passed  and 
approved,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  duty  of  commanding 
generals  was  to  give  it  real  effect — not  allow  the  government  to  be 
defrauded  by  the  hasty  manufacture  of  fictitious  legal  papers. 

General  Butler  continued  his  preparations  for  enforcing  the  con- 
fiscation act.  The  day  after  the  expiration  of  the  sixty  days'  grace, 
the  following  general  order  was  issued : 

"  New  Oeleans,  September  24,  1862. 

"  All  persons,  male  or  female,  within  this  department,  of  the  age  of 
eighteen  years  and  upward,  who  have  ever  been  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  have  not  renewed  their  allegiance  before  this  date  to  the  United 
States,  or  who  now  hold  or  pretend  any  allegiance  or  sympathy  with  the 
so-called  Confederate  States,  are  ordered  to  report  themselves,  on  or  before 
the  first  day  of  October  next,  to  the  nearest  provost-marshal,  with  a  de- 
scriptive list  of  all  their  property  and  rights  of  property,  both  real,  personal 
and  mixed,  made  out  and  signed  by  themselves  respectively,  with  the  same 
particularity  as  for  taxation.  They  shall  also  report  their  place  of  residence 
by  number,  street,  or  other  proper  description,  and  their  occupation,  which 
registry  shall  be  signed  by  themselves,  and  each  shall  receive  a  certificate 
from  the  marshal  of  registration  as  claiming  to  be  an  enemy  of  the  United 
States. 

u  Any  persons,  of  those  described  in  this  order,  neglecting  so  to  register 
themselves,  shall  be  subject  to  fine,  or  imprisonment  at  hard  labor,  or  both, 
and  all  his  or  her  property  confiscated,  by  order,  as  punishment  for  such 
neglect. 

"  On  the  first  day  of  October  next,  every  householder  shall  return  to  the 
provost-marshal  nearest  him,  a  list  of  each  inmate  in  his  or  her  house,  of 
the  age  of  eighteen  years  or  upward,  which  list  shall  contain  the  following 
particulars  :  The  name,  sex,  age  and  occupation  of  each  inmate,  whether  a 
registered  alien,  one  who  has  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United 
States,  a  registered  enemy  of  the  United  States,  or  one  who  has  neglected 
to  register  himself  or  herself,  either  as  an  alien,  a  loyal  citizen,  or  a  register- 
ed enemy.  All  householders  neglecting  to  make  such  returns,  or  making  a 
false  return,  shall  be  punished  by  fine,  or  imprisonment  with  hard  labor,  or 
both. 


474  THE    CONFISCATION  ACT. 

"  Each  policeman  will,  within  his  beat,  be  held  responsible  that  every 
householder  failing  to  make  such  return,  within  three  days  from  the  first  of 
October,  is  reported  to  the  provost-marshal ;  and  five  dollars  for  such 
neglect,  for  every  day  in  which  it  is  not  reported,  will  be  deducted  from 
such  policeman's  pay,  and  he  shall  be  dismissed.  And  a  like  sum  for  con- 
viction of  any  householder  not  making  his  or  her  return  shall  be  paid  to  the 
policeman  reporting  such  householder. 

"Every  person  who  shall,  in  good  faith,  renew  his  or  her  allegiance  to 
the  United  States  previous  to  the  first  day  of  October  next,  and  shall  re- 
main truly  loyal,  will  be  recommended  to  the  president  for  pardon  of  his  or 
her  previous  offenses." 

This  order  led  to  a  run  on  the  oath  offices.  It  was  "  understood'* 
among  the  secessionists  that  an  oath  given  to  Yankees  for  the  pur- 
pose of  retaining  property  was  a  mere  form  of  words  not  binding 
upon  the  consciences  of  the  chivalric  sons  of  the  South.  A  very 
large  number  of  persons,  it  is  thought,  acted  upon  this  opinion ; 
for  while  the  offices  appointed  for  receiving  the  oaths  were  throng- 
ed and  surrounded  by  eager  multitudes  of  oath-takers,  the  number 
of  "  registered  enemies"  was  less  than  four  thousand.  "  People," 
said  the  Delta,  "  who  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  afterward 
say,  with  a  sneer,  '  it  did  not  go  farther  than  there'  (pointing  to 
their  throat),  should  bear  in  mind  that  if  it  is  kept  in  that  posi- 
tion, and  they  conduct  themselves  accordingly,  there  is  great 
danger  of  its  choking  them  some  fine  morning." 

Before  General  Butler  left  the  department,  sixty  thousand  of  its 
inhabitants  had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States. 

The  rebel  General  Jeff.  Thompson,  who  was  in  command  near 
the  Union  lines,  contrived  to  get  in  a  word  on  this  subject : 

"  PoNcnATOULA,  La.,  September  28th, 
"  Sunday,  8  o'clock  a.  m. 
"Major-General  B.  E.  Butler,  TJ.  S.  A.,  New  Orleans,  La. : 

"  [Per  Underground  Telegraph.] 

"  General  : — We  thank  you  for  General  Order  No.  76.  It  will  answer  us 
for  a  precedent  at  New  Orleans,  St.  Louis,  Louisville,  Baltimore,  Washing- 
ton, each  of  which  we  will  have  in  a  few  days.  We  were  undetermined 
how  to  act.    Please  '  pile  it  on.' 

"Yours  respectfully,  Jefferson  Thompson, 

" Brigadier- General  S.  C,  commanding  Southern  Line" 


THE    CONFISCATION   ACT.  475 

If  the  general  could  regard  this  epistle  as  a  joke,  there  were 
other  correspondents  whose  communications  caused  him  real  dis- 
tress. The  venerable  and  benevolent  Dr.  Mercer,  for  example,  a 
gentleman  for  whom  General  Butler,  in  common  with  the  whole 
army,  entertained  the  most  sincere  respect,  addressed  him  upon  the 
subject  of  General  Order  No.  76. 

"  You  have  probably  inferred,  from  our  various  conversations,  that 
I  have  not  taken  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Confederate  States, 
nor  have  been  a  member  of  any  society  or  public  body  in  New 
Orleans,  or  elsewhere  in  the  confederacy ;  and  that  since  your 
arrival  here,  I  have  maintained  a  strict  neutrality.  In  pursuance 
of  your  Order  No.  76,  I  will  make  a  faithful  return,  substantially, 
if  not  minutely  accurate,  of  all  my  property  here,  except  about 
$3,000,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  in  gold,  that  I  have  reserved 
for  an  emergency.  I  mention  this  to  you  now  to  avoid  misapprehen- 
sion. Your  order  referred  to  exempts  only  those  who  have  taken 
the  oath  of  allegiance ;  but  I  can  not  think  you  intend  to  include 
those  in  my  situation  as  claiming  to  be  'enemies  of  the  United 
States.'  Such  an  interpretation  is,  in  my  opinion,  at  variance  with 
the  act  of  congress,  as  well  as  with  the  proclamation  of  President 
Lincoln." 

General  Butler  replied : 

"  In  my  judgment,  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  neutrality  by  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  in  this  contest  for  the  life  of  the  gov- 
ernment. As  an  officer,  I  can  not  recognize  such  neutrality.  *  He 
that  is  not  for  us  is  against  us.' 

"  All  good  citizens  are  called  upon  to  lend  their  influence  to  the 
United  States ;  all  that  do  not  do  so,  are  the  enemies  of  the  United 
States ;  the  line  is  to  be  distinctly  and  broadly  drawn.  Every 
citizen  must  find  himself  on  one  side  or  the  other  of  that  line,  and 
can  claim  no  other  position  than  that  of  a  friend  or  an  enemy  of 
the  United  States. 

"  While  I  am  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  differ  from  you  in  your  con 
struction  of  the  act  of  congress  and  the  proclamation  of  the  presi 
dent,  I  cannot  permit  any  reservation  of  property  from  the  list, 
or  exemption  of  persons  from  the  requirement  of  Order  No.  76. 
It  may  be,  and,  I  trust,  is  quite  true,  that'  by  no  act  of  yours  have 
you  rendered  yourself  liable  to  the  confiscation  of  your  property 
under  the  act  and  proclamation ;  but  that  is  for  the  military  or 


476 


THE   CONFISCATION   ACT. 


other  courts  (to  decide).  You,  however,  will  advise  yourself,  with 
your  usual  care  and  caution,  what  may  be  the  effect,  now  that  you 
are  solemnly  called  upon  to  declare  yourself  in  favor  of  the  govern- 
ment, of  contumaciously  refusing  to  renew  your  allegiance  to  it, 
thereby  inducing,  from  your  example,  others  of  your  fellow-citizens 
to  remain  in  the  same  opposition.  I  am  glad  to  acknowledge  your 
long  and  upright  life  as  a  man,  your  former  services  as  an  officer 
of  the  government,  and  the  high  respect  I  entertain  for  your  per- 
sonal character  and  moral  worth ;  but  I  am  dealing  with  your  duty 
as  a  citizen  of  the  U  nited  States.  All  these  noble  qualities,  as  well 
as  your  high  social  condition,  render  your  example  all  the  more  in- 
fluential and  pernicious  ;  and,  I  grieve  to  add,  in  my  opinion,  more 
dangerous  to  the  interests  of  the  United  States  than  if,  a  younger 
man,  you  had  shouldered  your  musket  and  marched  to  the  field  in 
the  army  of  rebellion." 

Dr.  Mercer  was,  therefore,  compelled  to  choose  a  position  on  one 
side  or  the  other  of  the  "  broad  line."  He  did  not  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance,  but  preferred  to  enroll  himself  among  the  registered 
enemies  of  his  country.  After  the  departure  of  General  Butler,  he 
escaped  to  New  York,  where  he  has  since  resided. 

General  Butler  proceeded  in  the  work  recommended  by  Jeff. 
Thompson,  of  "  piling  it  on,"  taking  the  material  from  the  "  piles" 
of  the  friends  and  comrades  of  that  humorous  officer.  Another  of 
his  raking  general  orders  appeared  in  October,  which  sensibly  re- 
duced the  income  of  many  conspicuous  abettors  of  the  rebellion. 

"  New  Oeleans,  October  17,  1862. 
"All  persons  holding  powers  of  attorney  or  letters  of  authorization  from, 
or  who  are  merely  acting  for,  or  tenants  of,  or  intrusted  with  any  moneys, 
goods,  wares,  property  or  merchandise,  real,  personal  or  mixed,  of  any  per- 
son now  in  the  service  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States,  or  any  person 
not  known  by  such  agent,  tenant  or  trustee  to  be  a  loyal  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  or  a  bona  fide  neutral  subject  of  a  foreign  government,  will 
retain  in  their  own  hand,  until  farther  orders,  all  such  moneys,  goods, 
wares,  merchandise  and  property,  and  make  an  accurate  return  of  the  same 
to  David  C.  G.  Field,  Esq.,  the  financial  clerk  of  this  department,  upon  oath, 
on  or  before  the  first  day  of  November  next.  Every  such  agent,  tenant  or 
trustee  failing  to  make  true  return,  or  shall  pay  over  or  deliver  any  such 
moneys,  goods,  wares,  merchandise  and  property  to,  or  for  the  use,  directly 
or  indirectly,  of  any  person  not  known  by  him  to  be  a  loyal  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  without  an  order  from  these  head-quarters,  will  be  held  per- 


MORE    OF   THE   IRON   HAND.  477 

sonally  responsible  for  the  amount  so  neglected  to  be  returned,  paid  over  or 
delivered.  All  rents  due  or  to  become  due  by  tenants  of  property  belong- 
ing to  persons  not  known  to  be  loyal  citizens  of  the  United  States,  will  be 
paid  as  they  become  due,  to  D.  0.  G-.  Field,  Esq.,  financial  clerk  of  the  de- 
partment." 

To  complete  the  reader's  knowledge  of  this  subject,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  add  that,  early  in  December,  all  registered  enemies 
who  desired  to  leave  New  Orleans,  not  to  return,  were  permitted 
to  do  so.  Several  hundreds  availed  themselves  of  this  permission, 
much  to  the  relief  of  the  party  for  the  Union. 

It  was  these  stern  and  rigorously  executed  measures  which  com- 
pleted the  subjugation  of  the  secessionists  of  New  Orleans,  and 
deprived  them  of  all  power  to  co-operate  with  treason  beyond  the 
Union  lines.  It  was  these  measures  which  alone  could  have  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  sincere  return  of  Louisiana  to  the  Union, 
the  first  requisite  to  which  was  the  suppression  of  the  small  party 
which  had  traitorously  taken  the  state  out  of  the  Union.  To  com- 
plete the  regeneration  of  the  state,  it  was  necessary  to  foster  the 
self-respect,  protect  the  interests,  maintain  the  rights,  and  raise  in 
the  scale  of  civilization  that  vast  majority  of  the  people  of  Louisi- 
ana, white  and  black,  bond  and  free,  whose  interests  and  the 
interests  of  the  United  States  are  identical.  This  great  and  diffi- 
cult work  General  Butler  was  permitted  only  to  begin.  The  back- 
woodsman was  called  from  his  fields  when  the  forests  had  been 
cleared,  the  swamps  drained,  the  noxious  creatures  driven  away,  and 
all  the  rough,  wild  work  done.  There  would  have  been  a  harvest 
in  the  following  year,  if  the  same  energetic  and  fertile  mind  had 
continued  to  wield  the  resources  of  the  land. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

MORE    OP  THE   IRON   HAND. 


Certain  of  the  Episcopal  clergy  of  New  Orleans  felt  the  rigor 
of  General  Butler's  rule.  The  clergy  of  New  Orleans  were  seces- 
sionists, of  course.  Any  Christian  minister  capable  of  voluntarily 
living  in  the  South  during  the  last  twenty  years,  or  any  one  who 


473  MOKE    OF   THE   IRON    HAND. 

was  permitted  to  live  there,  must  have  been  a  person  prepared  to 
forsake  all  and  follow  slavery.  This  was  the  condition  of  their  ex- 
ercising the  clerical  office  in  the  cotton  kingdom,  and  when  the 
time  came  they  complied  with  that  condition. 

One  "  eminent  divine"  of  New  Orleans,  it  is  said,  was  heard  to 
remark,  that  strong  as  was  his  belief  in  special  providential  dis- 
pensations, that  faith  would  receive  a  severe,  perhaps  a  fatal  shock, 
if  the  yellow  fever  did  not  become  epidemic  in  New  Orleans  that 
summer. 

When  the  confiscation  act  was  about  to  be  enforced,  General 
Butler  had  a  controversy  with  Dr.  Leacock,  the  Episcopal  clergy- 
man who  promised  to  read  the  burial  service  over  Lieutenant  De 
Kay,  and  broke  his  promise.  This  gentleman  was  of  English  birth, 
but  had  long  resided  in  New  Orleans,  and,  I  believe,  had  become 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States ;  at  least,  he  expressly  disclaimed  the 
protection  of  British  law.  Dr.  Leacock,  it  appears,  now  desired 
exemption  from  the  decrees  which  tended  to  separate  the  friends 
from  the  enemies  of  the  Union,  and  which  denied  all  favor  and 
privileges  to  those  who  openly  adhered  to  the  Confederate  cause. 
He  claimed  to  be  a  friend  of  the  Union — in  fact,  a  Union  man. 
Still,  he  was  not  prepared  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  Now, 
this  man,  in  November,  1860,  had  preached  a  sermon  in  favor  of 
secession,  which  so  exactly  chimed  in  with  the  feelings  of  the  seces- 
sionists, that  four  editions  of  it  were  printed  and  sold,  to  the  num- 
ber of  30,000  copies.  The  sermon  was  the  usual  silly  tirade 
against  "  the  abolitionists,"  "  the  savage  fanatics  of  the  North,"  the 
deadly  enemies  of  a  noble  southern  chivalry.  It  contained,  also, 
the  regulation  paragraphs  upon  John  Brown  and  his  "  band  of  as- 
sassins," and  the  "infidel  preachers"  who  had  "stimulated"  them  to 
fall  upon  a  poor,  innocent,  unsuspecting,  persecuted,  patient,  long- 
suffering  southern  people.  The  concluding  paragraph  of  this  ser- 
mon was  the  following : 

"Now,  in  justice  to  myself,  I  must  be  permitted  to  make  a  remark 
before  I  close.  But  a  few  weeks  ago  I  counseled  you,  from  this 
place,  to  avoid  all  precipitate  action ;  but  at  the  same  time  to  take 
determined  action — such  action  only  as  you  thought  you  could  take 
with  the  conscious  support  of  reason  and  religion.  I  give  that  coun- 
sel still.  But  I  am  one  of  you.  I  feel  as  a  southerner.  Southern 
honor  is  my  honor — southern  degradation  is  my  degradation.     Let 


MOKE    OF   THE   IEO^    HAND.  479 

no  man  mistake  my  meaning  or  call  my  words  idle.  As  a  south- 
erner, then,  I  will  speak,  and  I  give  it  as  my  firm  and  unhesitating 
belief,  that  nothing  is  now  left  us  but  secession.  I  do  not  like  the 
word,  but  it  is  the  only  one  to  express  my  meaning.  We  do  not 
secede — our  enemies  have  seceded.  "We  are  on  the  constitution — 
our  enemies  are  not  on  the  constitution ;  and  our  language  should 
be,  if  you  will  not  go  with  us,  we  will  not  go  with  you.  You  may 
form  for  yourselves  a  constitution ;  but  we  will  administer  among 
ourselves  the  constitution  which  our  fathers  have  left  us.  This 
should  be  our  language  and  solemn  determination.  Such  action 
our  honor  demands ;  such  action  will  save  the  Union,  if  anything 
can.  We  have  yet  friends  left  us  in  the  North,  but  they  can  not 
act  for  us  till  we  have  acted  for  ourselves ;  and  it  would  be  as  pusil- 
lanimous in  us  to  desert  our  friends  as  to  cower  before  our  enemies. 
To  advance,  is  to  secure  our  rights ;  to  recede,  is  to  lay  our  fortunes, 
our  honor,  our  liberty,  under  the  feet  of  our  enemies.  I  know  that 
the  consequences  of  such  a  course,  unless  guided  by  discretion,  are 
perilous.  But,  peril  our  fortunes,  peril  our  lives,  come  what  will, 
let  us  never  peril  our  liberty  and  our  honor.  I  am  willing,  at 
the  call  of  my  honor  and  my  liberty,  to  die  a  freeman ;  but  I'll 
never,  no,  never,  live  a  slave ;  and  the  alternative  now  presented 
by  our  enemies  is  secession  or  slavery.  Let  it  be  liberty  or 
death !" 

General  Butler  ventured  to  adduce  this  sermon  as  evidence  of  its 
author's  enmity  to  the  Union.  Dr.  Leacock's  reply  revealed  an 
astounding  moral  obliquity. 

DE.   LEACOOK   TO   OENEEAL  BTTTLEE. 

"  September  26,  1862. 
"  Major-General  Butler  : 

"  Sir: — I  have  not  the  sermon  in  manuscript  to  which,  in  your  note  of 
yesterday,  you  refer.  It  was  taken  down  during  its  delivery  by  a  reporter 
unknown  to  me,  but,  being  called  away  from  the  church  before  it  was  con- 
cluded, he  requested  the  manuscript,  that  he  might  not,  as  he  said,  give  a 
wrong  report  of  my  views.  It  was  given,  but  never  returned.  I  send, 
however,  a  printed  copy  of  it  with  this  remark :  that  the  last  section,  which 
I  have  circumscribed  in  pencil,  was  not  delivered  from  the  pulpit,  as  my 
whole  congregation  can  testify ;  and  that  the  publisher  was  immediately 
required  by  me,  in  the  presence  of  several  gentlemen,  to  state  this  fact,  that 
it  might  be  omitted  in  any  future  publication. 


480  MOKE  OF  THE  IRON  HAND. 

"  There  is  no  man  that  desires  more  heartily  than  myself  the  restoration 
of  this  Union,  as  it  was  before  the  present  controversy  arose.  In  evidence 
of  this  fact,  I  send  you  another  sermon,  which  was  delivered  a  few  weeks 
after  the  one  in  print;  and  as  you  will  find  great  difficulty  in  reading  it, 
I  will  transcribe  the  closing  paragraph,  to  which  I  desire  to  refer  you,  as 
expressive  of  what  I  felt  then,  and  of  what  I  feel  now. 

"  '  The  destruction  of  our  Union !  Oh,  there  is  not  a  spot  on  the  civilized 
globe  that  would  not  lament  the  destruction  of  our  Union.  The  wail  with 
which  the  fathers  in  Egypt  pierced  the  air  on  the  death  of  their  first-born, 
is  ready  to  burst  forth  from  our  bosoms  if  this  dire  event  should  happen. 
I  speak  for  myself.  There  are  those  among  us  who  may  be  indifferent  to 
it.  Bat  the  nations  around  us  will  consider  it  a  world-wide  misfortune. 
The  discontented  and  aspiring,  the  exile  and  the  adventurer,  all  seek  its 
borders,  and  are  at  once  elevated  in  the  scale  of  being — enjoying  a  freer  air, 
a  fresher  nature.  It  is  the  land  of  the  aspirations  and  dreams  of  the  poor 
and  oppressed  of  other  countries.  Even  tyrants  who  hate  it,  would  not  see 
it  fall,  because  they  know  not  how  soon  they  may  have  to  fly  to  it  for 
refuge.  Let  the  fanatics  of  the  North  consider  this,  and  know  that  they  owe 
it  to  the  world,  as  well  as  to  the  South,  to  heal  the  wounds  they  have  in- 
flicted, and  restore  harmony  and  happiness  to  our  country. 

"  'The  Union,  the  Union  destroyed!  Our  hearts  can  scarcely  bear  the 
thought,  much  more  the  weight  of  such  a  visitation.  Yet  where  is  the  mac 
to  arrest  its  downward  progress  ?  North,  south,  east,  west,  where  is  the 
man  ?  There  is  none  to  answer ;  there  is  none  to  be  found.  Then,  Lord, 
we  come  to  Thee.  Save  us,  we  perish !  Say  to  the  troubled  spirits  of  men, 
be  still,  that  there  may  be  a  calm — a  calm  for  deliberate,  just,  devout  con- 
sideration to  heal  the  wounds  that  have  been  inflicted,  and  to  restore  peace 
and  brotherly  love  to  our  Union,  the  Union  which  has  been  bequeathed  us, 
the  Union  of  equal  rights  and  equal  protection.     O  Lord,  save  this  Union ! ' 

"  These  are  still  my  feelings — I  have  never  held  any  other — I  have  never 
avowed  any  other.  And  I  mention  this  with  the  alone  intention  that  I 
should  not  be  misunderstood.  I  desire  to  be  known  as  I  am.  My  position 
demands  that  I  should  speak  what  I  believe  to  be  the  truth.  I  have  done 
this,  and  I  leave  all  consequences  with  God.  Please  return  me  the  manu- 
script. 

"  I  am,  sir,  respectfully, 

"  TV.  T.  Leacock." 

General  Butler,  not  desiring  farther  correspondence  with  this 
reverend  person,  caused  Captain  Puffer  to  ask  him  whether  he 
had  published  any  recantation  or  disavowal  of  the  secession  para- 
graph of  his  sermon,  or  whether  any  one  else  had  done  so  for  him. 
He  replied :  "  I  do  not  know.     I  only  know  that  I  requested  the 


MOKE    OF   THE   IRON   HAND.  481 

reporter,  both  in  person  and  by  letter,  to  omit  the  last  paragraph, 
because  I  did  not  give  utterance  to  it."  It  thus  appeared  that  this 
Union  man  had  stood  by  and  seen  tens  of  thousands  of  copies  of  a 
sermon  advising  the  dismemberment  of  the  Union,  and  had  enjoyed 
the  popularity  attached  to  the  utterance  of  such  advice,  without 
deeming  it  worth  while  to  inform  the  public  that  the  passage  had 
never  been  delivered,  and  did  not  express  his  mature  opinion. 
Those  who  can  believe  in  such  Unionism  may  also  be  able  to  be- 
lieve that  the  sermon  quoted  in  the  doctor's  letter  was  delivered 
after  the  published  one,  which  every  man  in  his  congregation  must 
have  read. 

On  the  day  apCR  which  he  had  replied  to  Captain  Puffer's  ques- 
tion, he  Bought  to  re-open  a  correspondence  directly  with  General 
Butler.  Something  was  in  the  mind  of  this  tender-conscienced 
priest.  He  now  became  the  accuser  of  General  Butler,  and  warned 
him  of  the  error  of  his  ways. 

DE.   LEACOCK   TO   GEjSTEEAL  BTJTLEE. 

"  September  29,  1862. 
"Major- General  JButlee,  &c,  &c,  &c. : 

"  My  deae  Sie  : — I  desire  to  speak  affectionately,  but  candidly,  to  you, 
and  I  beseech  you  to  hear  me  patiently. 

"General  Butler,  'You  are  eating  up  God's  people,  as  it  were  bread.' 
You  have  possessed  them  with  such  fear,  that  they  are  rushing,  innocent 
and  weak  women,  most  unwarrantably,  guiltless  and  timid  men,  most  in- 
gloriously,  are  rushing  to  their  destruction,  through  fear  of  being  deprived 
of  their  substance  or  of  their  personal  liberty. 

"  You  are  playing  a  dangerous  game  with  public  morals — you  are  com- 
mitting desperate  havoc  with  the  consciences  of  God's  people.  Thou- 
sands have  perjured  themselves — thousands  are  rushing  to  perjure  them- 
selves in  the  sight  of  Almighty  God,  by  bringing  themselves  under  oath  to 
do  what  they  intend  not  to  do,  what  they  will  not  do,  and  what  you  know 
they  neither  intend  to  do  nor  will  do.  All  this  you  have  seen,  and  yet  you 
have  not  raised  your  voice  to  check  the  ruinous  deception  practiced  on  the 
community  by  your  organ,  the  Delta. 

"The  law  under  which  you  act  does  not  call  for  this  universal  wicked- 
ness ;  but  if  it  did,  you  should  not,  as  a  man  professing  Christianity,  obey  it, 
because  obedience  to  human  law  ceases  where  transgression  to  the  Divine 
law  is  involved ;  and  who  will  not  say  the  Divine  law  is  not  transgressed, 
is  not  openly  defied,  and  that  by  you,  when  God  is  set  at  naught  by  num- 
bers only  to  avoid  the  terrors  of  your  will.     I  say  your  will,  not  the  will 


482  MORE    OF   THE    IRON   HAND. 

of  the  law,  for  the  law  is  more  merciful  than  you;  it  exacts  of  s&incd 
offenders  only  what  you  exact  indiscriminately  of  all.  You  elevate  your 
will  above  the  law  for  people  to  bow  down  and  obey;  and  in  their  obedi- 
ence they  deny  God,  and  rush  into  the  arms  of  Satan — and  whose  is  the 
Bin? 

"My  dear  General  Butler,  I  beseech  you  in  God's  name  to  pause  and  con- 
sider your  course.  I  know  you  desire  to  serve  your  country ;  but  in  your 
efforts  to  serve  your  country  you  must  not  forget  that  you  are  a  man,  and, 
therefore,  should  deal  mercifully  with  your  fellow-man,  as  you  would  have 
God  to  deal  mercifully  with  you;  we  are  nowhere  commanded  to  love  our 
country,  but  we  are  everywhere  commanded  to  love  our  fellow-men  ;  and, 
therefore,  in  dealing  with  our  fellow-men  in  connection  with  our  country, 
you  should  not  deal  with  such  undue  severity,  nor  place  him  in  a  condition 
to  risk  his  salvation  for  the  glorification  of  saying,  or  of  hearing  it  said, 
that  you  have  done  good  to  your  country — and  where  is  the  good  ?  not  one 
in  ten,  that  has  taken  the  oath,  are  you  willing  to  trust. 

"It  is  with  pain  and  grief  that  I  say  all  this  ;  but  I  must  be  true  to  my 
God,  and  my  conscience  ;  when  I  see  my  people  rushing  thus  headlong  to 
destruction,  I  must  speak ;  though  all  hell  stared  me  in  the  face,  I  must  speak — 
silence  is  my  destruction ;  for  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord — l  Son  of  man,  I 
have  made  thee  a  watchman  over  the  house  of  Israel ;  therefore  hear  the 
word  at  my  mouth,  and  give  them  warning  from  me.  When  I  say  unto  the 
wicked,  Thou  shalt  surely  die,  and  thou  givest  him  not  warning,  nor  speak- 
est  to  warn  the  wicked  from  his  wicked  way  to  save  his  life,  the  same  wicked 
man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity ;  but  his  blood  will  I  require  at  thine  hand.' 

"  General  Butler — God  has  given  you  great  talents — few  are  blessed  with 
such — and  my  prayer  to  God  is,  that  you  may  use  those  talents  to  his  glory ; 
but  to  do  this,  you  must  take  a  very  different  course  to  that  which  you  are 
now  pursuing.  I  pray  you,  pardon  the  liberty  I  have  taken ;  but  I  have 
great  sympathy  for  you,  and  I  can  not  restrain  this  evidence  of  my  love  for 
your  soul. 

"May  God  give  you  grace  to  see  your  error,  and  to  sustain  you  in  the 
proper  discharge  of  your  arduous  and  manifold  duties. 

"  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  with  great  sincerity,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  W.  T.  Leacock." 

No  answer,  I  believe,  was  made  to  this  communication.  A  few 
days  after,  an  event  occurred  which  brought  General  Butler  into 
such  direct  collision  with  the  Episcopal  clergy,  that  New  Orleans 
was  not  considered  by  the  general  large  enough  to  contain  both 
parties  in  the  controversy. 

On  a  Sunday  morning,  early  in  October,  Major  Strong  entered 
the  office  of  the  general  in  plain  clothes,  and  said : 


MOEE    OF   THE    IRON   HAND.  483 

"I  havn't  been  able  to  go  to  church  since  we  came  to  New 
Orleans.     This  morning  I  am  going." 

He  crossed  the  street,  and  took  a  front  seat  in  the  Episcopal  church 
of  Dr.  Goodrich,  opposite  the  mansion  of  General  Twiggs.  He 
joined  in  the  exercises  with  the  earnestness  which  was  natural  to 
his  devout  mind,  until  the  clergyman  reached  that  part  of  the  ser- 
vice where  the  prayer  for  the  president  of  the  United  States  occurs. 
That  prayer  was  omitted,  and  the  minister  invited  the  congregation 
to  spend  a  few  moments  in  silent  prayer.  The  young  officer  had 
not  previously  heard  of  this  mode  of  evading,  at  once,  the  require- 
ments of  the  church,  and  the  orders  of  the  commanding  general. 
He  rose  in  his  place  and  said : 

"  Stop,  sir.  It  is  my  duty  to  bring  these  exercises  to  a  close.  I 
came  here  for  the  purpose,  and  the  sole  purpose,  of  worshiping 
God ;  but  inasmuch  as  your  minister  has  seen  fit  to  omit  invoking 
a  blessing,  as  our  church  service  requires,  upon  the  president  of  the 
United  States,  I  propose  to  close  the  services.  This  house  will  be 
shut  within  ten  minutes." 

The  clergyman,  astounded,  began  to  remonstrate. 

"  This  is  no  time  for  discussion,  sir,"  said  the  major. 

The  minister  was  speechless  and  indignant.  The  ladies  flashed 
wrath  upon  the  officer,  who  stood  motionless  with  folded  arms. 
The  men  scowled  at  him.  The  minister  soon  pronounced  the  bene- 
diction, the  congregation  dispersed,  and  Major  Strong  retired  to 
report  the  circumstances'  at  head-quarters. 

This  brought  the  matter  to  a  crisis.  General  Butler  sent  for  the 
Episcopal  clergymen,  Dr.  Leacock,  Dr.  Goodrich,  Dr.  Fulton,  and 
others,  who  were  all  accustomed  to  omit  the  prayer  for  the  presi- 
dent, and  pray  in  silence  for  the  triumph  of  treason.  The  general 
patiently  and  courteously  argued  the  point  with  them  at  great 
length,  quoting  Bible,  rubrics  and  history  with  his  wonted  fluency. 
They  replied  that,  in  omitting  the  prayer,  they  were  only  obeying 
the  orders  of  the  Right  Reverend  Major-General  Polk,  their  eccle- 
siastical superior.  The  general  denied  the  authority  of  that  mili- 
tary prelate  to  change  the  liturgy,  and  contended  that  the  omission 
of  the  prayer,  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  time  and  place, 
was  an  overt  act  of  treason.  Obedience  to  the  powers  that  be,  he 
said,  was  the  peculiar  aim  and  boast  of  the  Episcopal  church ;  and 
no  one  could  doubt  that  the  dominant  power  in  New  Orleans  was 
£1 


484  MORE    OF   THE   IRON   HAND. 

the  president  of  the  United  States.  And  even  granting  that  the 
president  was  a  usurper,  that  would  be  only  one  reason  more  for 
praying  for  him.  The  Union  forces  had  not  come  to  New  Orleans 
for  a  temporary  purpose ;  they  meant  to  stay.  There  was  no  power 
on  the  continent  or  oif  the  continent  that  could  expel  them.  This 
praying  for  Davis  must  stop  at  some  time ;  why  not  now  ?  Be- 
sides, the  clergy  of  the  Episcopal  church  had  taken  upon  themselves 
the  most  solemn  vows  to  obey  the  canons  and  rubrics  of  the  church, 
and  their  omission  of  part  of  the  liturgy  was  of  the  nature  of  per- 

"But,  General,"  said  Dr.  Leacock,  "your  insisting  upon  the  tak- 
ing of  the  oath  of  allegiance  is  causing  half  of  my  church-members 
to  perjure  themselves." 

"  Well,"  replied  the  general,  "  if  that  is  the  result  of  your  nine 
years'  preaching ;  if  your  people  will  commit  perjury  so  freely,  the 
sooner  you  leave  your  pulpit  the  better." 

After  further  conversation,  Dr.  Leacock  asked  : 
"  Well,  General,  are  you  going  to  shut  up  the  churches  ?" 
"  No,  sir,  I  am  more  likely  to  shut  up  the  ministers." 
The  clergymen  showing  no  disposition  to  yield,  General  Butler 
ended  the  interview  by  stating  his  ultimatum  :  "  Read  the  prayer 
for  the  president,  omit  the  silent  act  of  devotion,  or  leave  New 
Orleans  prisoners  of  state  for  Fort  Lafayette." 

After  consultation  with  one  another  and  with  their  people,  after 
endless  vacillation  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Leacock,  three  of  the  clergy- 
men, Dr.  Leacock,  Dr.  Goodrich  and  Mr.  Fulton,  decided  not  to 
read  the  prayer  for  the  president.  Captain  Puffer  was  detailed  to 
conduct  them  to  New  York,  and  they  sailed  in  the  next  transport. 
On  the  voyage,  Captain  Puffer  informs  me,  Dr.  Goodrich,  a  benevo- 
lent, venerable  man,  read  prayers  to  the  returning  troops,  and  did 
not  omit  the  prayer  for  the  president.  He  ministered  to  the  sick 
and  dying,  and  won  the  sincere  regard  of  all  on  board.  Three 
weeks  after  their  arrival,  all  the  state  prisoners  were  released,  and 
they  returned  to  New  Orleans.  General  Banks  demanded  the  oath 
of  allegiance  as  a  condition  of  their  landing.  They  declined  the 
condition,  and  returned  to  New  York. 

General  Strong  chanced  to  meet  Dr.  Goodrich,  one  day,  at  the 
St.  Nicholas  Hotel.  They  looked  at  each  other  for  a  moment  in 
some  embarrassment,  neither  knowing  what  were  the  feelings  of 


MOEE    OF   THE    IEON    HAND.  485 

the  other.  A  smile  overspread  the  benevolent  countenance  of  the 
doctor.  General  Strong  offered  his  hand,  which  Dr.  Goodrich  ac- 
cepted, and  the  two  men  laughed  heartily  at  the  odd  encounter. 

"  You  did  that  well,"  said  the  clergyman,  "  since  you  had  made 
up  your  mind  to  do  it ;  but  why  didn't  you  come  to  me  privately 
and  give  me  notice  ?" 

General  Strong  explained  the  circumstances,  and  they  continued 
to  converse  amicably. 

On  the  Sunday  after  the  departure  of  the  clergymen  from  New 
Orleans,  their  churches  were  open  as  usual,  but  the  exercises  were 
conducted  by  chaplains  of  the  Union  army,  who  read  the  service 
without  abridgment.  Not  many  of  the  auditors  were  of  the  seces- 
sionist persuasion.  Church  going,  however,  became  a  more  frequent 
practice  among  officers  and  men  after  this  purging  of  the  pulpits, 
and,  consequently,  the  places  of  the  absent  members  were  not  all 
vacant. 

The  pass-office  at  head-quarters  presented  the  most  distressing 
illustrations  of  the  iron-handed  rule  to  which  Louisiana  was  neces- 
sarily subjected.  Within  the  Union  lines  there  was  comparative 
plenty  ;  beyond  them  there  was  desolation  and  want.  Food,  cloth- 
ing and  medicines  were  to  be  had  in  New  Orleans  by  all  who  could 
pay  for  them ;  and  to  such  as  could  not  they  were  given.  Across 
the  lakes,  and  above  the  camp  of  General  Phelps,  at  Carrollton,  and 
in  the  region  lying  on  the  western  side  of  the  river,  food  was  scarce 
in  the  extreme,  clothing  was  scarcer,  and  the  stock  of  medicines  had 
long  been  exhausted.  There  were  parents  in  the  city  who  had 
starving  children  or  sick  children  in  the  enemy's  country,  only  a 
few  miles  distant.  There  were  people  in  New  Orleans  whose  aged 
parents,  just  beyond  the  lines,  were  suffering  for  the  necessaries  of 
life.  There  were  others  whose  near  relations,  people  of  substance 
and  respectability,  were  going  half  naked,  or  were  dying  for  want 
of  medicines.  On  the  other  hand,  there  were  hundreds  of  secession- 
ists in  the  city,  whose  constant  aim,  whose  sole  employment  was, 
to  devise  means  of  smuggling  supplies  across  the  lines  to  the  camps 
of  rebel  soldiery. 

The  pressure,  therefore,  upon  the  commanding  general  for  passes 
to  go  beyond  the  Union  lines,  was  great  and  continuous.  There 
were  a  hundred  applications  a  day.  Women  came  to  head-quarters 
imploring  permission  to  take  a  little  clothing,  medicine  and  food  to 


486  MORE    OF   THE   IRON   HAND. 

their  perishing  children,  calling  all  the  saints  to  witness  the  truth 
of  their  story  and  the  honesty  of  their  intentions.  A  large  major- 
ity of  the  applicants  were  women,  who  assailed  the  tender  hearts 
of  the  general  and  his  staff  with  tears,  entreaties  and  protesta- 
tions. 

During  the  first  weeks,  General  Butler  himself  heard  the  appli- 
cants, and  decided  upon  their  claims.  But  as  this  business  involved 
a  great  deal  of  questioning,  cross-questioning  and  examination  of 
papers,  he  was  compelled,  at  length,  to  establish  a  member  of  his 
staff  in  an  outer  office  at  head-quarters,  whose  duty  it  was  to  sift 
from  the  mass  of  suitors  the  few  whose  story  seemed  credible  and 
to  warrant  the  indulgence  of  a  pass.  These  were  reported  to  the 
general,  who  then  decided  upon  their  application.  Captain  A.  F. 
Puffer,  of  Boston,  was  the  officer  selected  for  this  duty.  When  he 
left  the  city  to  conduct  the  three  clergymen  northward,  his  place 
was  filled  by  Lieutenant  Frederick  Martin,  of  New  York.  These 
young  officers  held  a  post  which  severely  taxed  their  patience, 
their  firmness  and  their  sagacity.  I  might  add  their  integrity, 
also,  if  the  integrity  of  an  honorable  soldier  could  ever  be  severely 
tried.  "  I  was  so  often  offered  money  for  a  pass,"  said  Captain 
Puffer,  "  that,  at  last,  I  ceased  to  be  indignant,  and  would  merely 
say  to  the  orderly  in  attendance,  as  a  matter  of  business,  i  Show 
this  woman  out.'  He  was  once  offered  three  thousand  dollars  for 
a  pass,  the  money  to  be  paid  before  it  was  procured. 

From  the  first,  nine  in  ten  of  the  applications  were  refused. 
Every  one  at  head-quarters  was  aware  that  the  indulgence  was 
almost  certain  to  be  abused  in  some  instances,  and  that  the  only 
safe  course  was  to  make  the  lines  impassable.  But  many  of  the 
cases  were  so  movingly  piteous,  the  agony  of  the  applicants  seemed 
so  real  and  so  great,  that  it  was  not  in  human  nature  to  shut  the 
door  inexorably  upon  them.  Every  possible  precaution  was  taken 
to  prevent  the  conveyance  of  contraband  articles,  or  articles  in  con- 
traband quantities.  Every  box  and  package  was  minutely  exam- 
ined ;  every  departing  boat  was  searched.  A  list  was  required  of 
everything  allowed  to  be  taken,  and  the  applicant  pledged  his 
honor  that  he  would  take  nothing  else,  nor  apply  the  articles  to 
any  but  the  specified  use. 

It  soon  appeared,  however,  that  nearly  every  pass  that  was 
granted  was  abused.     It  soon  appeared  that  a  secessionist  con- 


MORE    OF   Til  12    IRON    HAND.  .  487 

sidered  it  no  more  dishonorable  to  lie  to  a  Union  officer  than  Jews 
once  deemed  it  a  sin  to  lie  to  a  Christian.  Here  would  come 
a  woman,  having  the  appearance  and  manners  of  a  lady,  begging 
with  tears  and  sobs  for  permission  to  convey  to  her  starving 
children  across  the  lake  just  one  barrel  of  flour,  that  they  might 
have  at  least  the  means  of  sustaining  life.  She  would  bring  friends 
and  papers  in  great  numbers  to  testify  to  the  truth  of  her  story. 
After  many  days,  the  pass  would  be  granted  ;  and  the  detective 
officer,  upon  probing  the  barrel  with  a  probe  of  extra  length,  would 
find  a  pound  or  two  of  quinine  in  the  middle.  A  trunk  of  clothes 
would  be  found  to  have  a  false  bottom  stuffed  with  contraband 
articles.  A  barrel  of  potatoes  would  serve  to  hide  some  thousands 
of  percussion-caps.  Letters,  too,  giving  contraband  information, 
were  frequently  discovered  concealed  in  the  boats. 

Every  detection,  of  course,  increased  the  stringency  of  the  pass- 
office.  In  August,  the  rebels  began  to  seize  boats  that  ventured 
within  their  lines,  with  a  view  to  collect  a  flotilla  for  operations 
against  the  city.  Then,  at  length,  was  adopted  the  inflexible 
rule,  that  no  passes  should  be  granted.  The  adoption  of  the  rule, 
however,  did  not  lessen  the  number  of  applicants,  nor  diminish 
their  importunity.  "  I  was  plied,"  says  Captain  Puffer,  "  with 
every  conceivable  story  of  heart-rending  woe  and  misery,  which 
the  general,  in  consequence  of  the  fact  that  in  almost  every  instance 
where  he  had  yielded  to  such  importunities,  his  confidence  had 
been  abused  by  the  carrying  of  supplies  and  information  to  the 
rebel  army,  had  ordered  me  invariably  to  refuse.  Ordinarily,  I 
succeeded  in  steeling  my  heart  against  these  urgent  entreaties; 
but  occasionally  some  story,  peculiarly  harrowing  in  its  details, 
seemed  to  demand  a  special  effort  in  behalf  of  the  applicant,  and 
I  would  go  to  the  general,  and,  in  the  desperation  of  my  cause, 
exclaim : 

"  General,  you  must  see  some  of  these  people.  I  know,  if  you 
would  only  hear  their  stories,  you  would  give  them  passes." 

"You  are  entirely  correct,  captain,"  he  would  reply.  "I  am 
sure  I  should ;  and  that  is  precisely  why  I  want  you  to  see  them 
for  me." 

"  And  with  this  very  doubtful  satisfaction  I  would  return  to  my 
desk,  convinced  that  sensibility  in  a  man  who  was  allowed  no  dis- 
cretion in  its  exercise,  was  an  entirely  useless  attribute,  and  that  in 


488  MORE    OF   THE    IRON   HAND. 

future,  I  would  set  my  face  as  a  flint  against  every  appeal  to  my 
feelings."* 

Two  incidents  of  the  pass-office,  related  to  me  by  Lieutenant 
Martin,  will  place  this  matter  distinctly  before  the  reader's  mind. 

One  Mrs.  L.  haunted  the  office  for  three  weeks,  pleading  with 
tears  for  her  starving  children,  to  whom  she  wished  to  convey  a 
little  food.  She  had  shown  some  kindness  to  Union  troops  on  one 
occasion,  when  they  were  passing  her  house,  and  this  was  remem- 
bered in  her  favor.  A  pass  was  given  her  to  go  to  St.  Johns  and 
return.  Something  led  a  detective  officer  to  examine  her  boat  with 
unusual  thoroughness.  He  found  that  "  false  hips"  had  been  built 
out  upon  her  sides,  which  were  filled  with  commodities  outrage- 
ously contraband.  The  woman  had  deceived  every  one.  Her  sim- 
ulation of  a  mother's  agony  and  tears,  sustained,  too,  for  three 
weeks,  was  so  perfect,  that  no  one  could  doubt  the  reality  of  her 
emotions.     Yet  she  was  a  professional  smuggler. 

Some  weeks  later,  a  lady  applied  to  Lieutenant  Martin  for  a  simi- 
lar permit.  Her  children,  too,  were  starving,  almost  within  sight 
of  their  mother  ;  and,  alas !  this  was  a  genuine  case.  Her  children 
were  starving.  She  was  a  lady  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  and 
she  convinced  the  lieutenant  of  the  perfect  truth  of  her  story  at  the 
first  interview.  But  he  could  only  inform  her,  that  no  passes  were 
then  issued,  and  that  any  application  to  the  general  on  her  behalf 
would  be  useless.  She  came  every  day  for  a  month,  always  hoping 
for  a  relaxation  of  the  rule.  At  length,  the  young  officer  was  so 
deeply  moved  by  her  distress,  that  he  promised  to  disobey  orders 
so  far  as  to  lay  her  case  before  the  general,  and  she  might  come 
the  next  day  to  learn  the  result.  She  came.  Lieutenant  Martin  had 
the  anguish  of  telling  her  that  her  application  was  necessarily  re- 
fused, as  her  boat  was  certain  to  be  seized  if  she  crossed  the  lake. 
She  turned  pale  as  death,  and  fell  senseless  to  the  floor.  She  was 
carried  to  the  nearest  physician.  In  half  an  hour  she  revived — a 
raving  maniac.  She  has  never  known  a  gleam  of  reason  to  this 
day. 

*  Atlantic  Monthly,  July,  1SG3. 


THE   NEGRO    QUESTION — FIRST  DIFFICULTIES.  4S9 


CHAPTER  XXYI. 

THE   NEGRO    QUESTION — FIRST   DIFFICULTIES. 

Louisiana  has  a  population  of  about  six  hundred  thousand.  Be- 
fore the  war,  there  was  a  slight  excess  of  whites  over  slaves,  but 
when  the  Union  troops  landed  at  New  Orleans,  there  was  one  slave 
in  the  state  to  every  white  person.  Many  of  the  parishes  contain 
twice  as  many  slaves  as  whites ;  some,  three  times  as  many ;  a  few, 
four  times  as  many;  one  has  nine  hundred  white  inhabitants  to 
nearly  nine  thousand  slaves.  The  marching  of  a  Union  column 
into  one  of  those  sugar  parishes,  was  like  thrusting  a  walking-stick 
into  an  ant-hill — the  negroes  swarmed  about  the  troops,  every  sol- 
dier's gun  and  knapsack  carried  by  a  black  man,  exulting  in  the 
service.  For,  in  some  way,  this  great  multitude  of  bondmen  had 
derived  the  impression  that  part  of  the  errand  of  these  troops  was 
to  set  them  free. 

The  population  of  New  Orleans  was  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand,  of  whom  eighteen  thousand  were  slaves  and  ten 
thousand  free  colored.  The  class  last  named  is  the  result  of  that 
universal  licentiousness  which  exists,  necessarily,  in  every  commu- 
nity where  the  number  of  slaves  is  large.  In  New  Orleans,  that 
licentiousness  was  systematized,  and  partook,  in  some  degree,  of 
the  character  of  matrimony.  The  connections  formed  with  the  quad- 
roons and  octoroons  were  often  permanent  enough  for  the  rearing 
of  large  families,  some  of  whom  obtained  their  freedom  from  the 
affection  of  their  father-master,  and  received  the  education  he  would 
have  bestowed  upon  legitimate  offspring.  The  class  of  free  colored, 
therefore,  includes  a  considerable  number  of  wealthy,  instructed, 
able,  and  estimable  persons.  They  have  been  styled  by  competent 
observers,  the  richest  class  in  New  Orleans;  many  having  in- 
herited large  estates,  and  many  carrying  on  lucrative  business. 
One  of  them  entertained  General  Butler  at  a  banquet  of  seven 
courses,  served  on  silver. 

The  secret,  darling  desire  of  this  class  is  to  rank  as  human  beings 
in  their  native  city ;  or,  as  the  giver  of  the  grand  banquet  expressed 


490  THE   NEGRO    QUESTION FIRST   DIFFICULTIES. 

it,  "  No  matter  where  I  fight ;  I  only  wish  to  spend  what  I  have, 
and  fight  as  long  as  I  can,  if  only  my  boy  may  stand  in  the  street 
equal  to  a  white  boy  when  the  war  is  over." 

It  is  difficult  for  an  inhabitant  of  the  North  to  know  how  far  such 
men  as  he  were  from  the  likelihood  of  ever  enjoying  the  equality 
he  craved.  There  was  at  the  North  a  general,  mild  prejudice 
against  color,  before  the  late  riots  in  New  York  expelled  the  last 
vestige  of  it  from  the  heart  of  every  decent  human  being.  But, 
at  the  South,  the  prejudice  is  so  complete  that  the  people  are  not 
aware  of  its  existence ;  they  fondle  and  pet  their  favorite  slaves, 
and  let  their  children  play  with  black  children  as  with  dogs  and 
cats.  The  slightest  taint  of  black  blood  in  the  superbest  man,  in 
the  loveliest  woman,  one  all  radiant  with  golden  curls  and  a  blonde 
complexion,  perfect  in  manners  and  abounding  in  the  best  fruits  of 
culture,  suffices  to  damn  them  to  an  eternal  exclusion  from  the 
companionship  of  the  people  with  whom  they  would  naturally  asso- 
ciate. The  most-  striking  illustration  of  the  intensity  of  this  abhor- 
rence of  African  blood  is  the  well-known  fact,  that  a  white  wife  in 
New  Orleans  is  not  generally  jealous  of  her  husband's  slave  mis- 
tress ;  and  is  frequently  capable  of  consoling  herself  by  the  reflec- 
tion that  the  other  family,  in  the  next  street,  are  worth  a  hundred 
dollars  each  on  the  day  of  their  birth,  and  increase  in  value  a  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year  during  the  first  fifteen  years  of  their  lives.  She 
does  not  recognize  in  the  mother  of  those  children  a  being  that 
could,  in  any  sense  of  the  word,  be  a  rival  of  a  woman  in  whose 
veins  flowed  no  African  blood  that  was  discoverable.  The  slave 
mistress,  also,  relieved  the  sickly  white  wife  of  the  burden  of  child- 
bearing.  This  is  southern  prejudice  against  color.  The  prejudice 
that  prevailed  at  the  North,  before  the  recent  scenes  revealed  to 
every  one  its  hellish  nature,  was  base  enough,  and  was  strongest  in 
the  basest ;  but  it  was  a  trivial  matter  compared  with  the  uncon- 
scious completeness  of  aversion  that  is  observable  in  the  true 
southerner — the  "  original  secessionist." 

There  were  a  great  many  loose  negroes  about  New  Orleans  when 
the  troops  landed,  slaves  of  masters  in  the  rebel  army  left  to  shift 
for  themselves.  A  still  larger  number  hired  their  time  from  their 
masters,  and  demonstrated  that  they  could  take  care  of  themselves, 
besides  contributing  from  sixty  cents  to  a  dollar  and  a  half  a  day  to 
the  maintenance  of  another  family. 


THE   NEGRO    QUESTION FIRST   DIFFICULTIES.  491 

"These  colored  girls,"  said  a  new-comer  one  day  to  a  Union 
officer,  "  whom  I  see  selling  bouquets,  nuts,  oranges,  cakes,  candies, 
and  small  wares,  on  the  street  corners,  must  save  a  great  deal  of 
money." 

"  These  people,"  was  the  reply,  "  are  merely  the  agents  of  their 
white  masters  and  mistresses,  who  grow  their  flowers  and  oranges, 
make  the  bouquets,  pies  and  candies,  and  send  their  slaves  to  sell 
them  in  the  streets.  If  she  is  an  apple  or  a  violet  short,  the  balance 
is  struck  on  her  back.  Many  of  the  people  of  New  Orleans  live, 
and  have  lived  for  years,  in  this  way." 

It  is  obvious  to  the  most  unreflecting  person,  that  the  negro 
question  at  New  Orleans  could  not  be  disposed  of,  as  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  by  an  epigram.  Fortress  Monroe  was  a  Union  island  in  a 
secession  sea.  The  number  of  slaves  in  the  vicinity  was  not  great ; 
only  nine  hundred  in  all  found  their  way  to  Freedom  Fort ;  and 
every  laborer  who  came  in  was  one  laborer  lost  to  the  rebel  batter- 
ies. The  duty  of  the  commanding  general  was  clear  the  moment 
the  "  epigram"  occurred  to  his  mind.  But,  in  Louisiana,  any  con- 
siderable disturbance  of  the  relations  of  labor  to  capital  would  have 
been  a  revolution  far  more  revolutionary  than  any  merely  political 
change  ever  was.  Suppose,  for  example,  that  all  slaves  coming  into  a 
Union  camp  had  been  received  and  maintained,  as  they  were  at  the 
fortress.  General  Butler  would  have  had  upon  his  hands,  in  a 
month,  in  addition  to  the  thirty  thousand  destitute  whites,  not  less 
than  fifty  thousand  blacks,  for  whom  he  would  have  had  to  provide 
food,  shelter,  clothing  and  employment ;  while  the  plantations  from 
which  the  city  was  supplied  with  daily  food  would  have  lain  waste. 
The  Fortress  Monroe  experience  was,  evidently,  of  no  avail  in 
dealing  with  the  negro  question  at  New  Orleans. 

The  instructions  given  by  General  McClellan  to  General 
Butler  were  silent  on  this  most  perplexing  subject.  General  But- 
ler, however,  had  instructions  with  regard  to  it.  On  leaving 
Washington  he  was  verbally  informed  by  the  president,  that  the 
government  was  not  yet  prepared  to  announce  a  negro  policy. 
They  were  anxiously  considering  the  subject,  and  hoped,  ere  long, 
to  arrive  at  conclusions.  Meanwhile,  he  must  "  get  along"  with 
the  negro  question  the  best  way  he  could ;  endeavor  to  avoid 
raising  insoluble  problems  and  sharply  defined  issues ;  and  try  to 
manage  so  that  neither  abolitionists  nor  "conservatives"  would  find 
21* 


492  THE   NEGRO    QUESTION FIRST   DIFFICULTIES. 

in  his  acts  occasions  for  clamor.  This,  however,  only  for  a  short 
time.  The  moment  the  administration  were  prepared  to  announce 
a  general  policy  with  regard  to  the  negroes,  all  generals  command- 
ing departments  would  be  notified,  and  required  to  pursue  the  same 
system. 

This  sounded  reasonably  enough  at  Washington.  It  wore  a  very 
different  aspect  when  it  had  to  be  applied  to  the  state  of  things  in 
Louisiana. 

The  difficulty  began  on  the  day  after  the  landing  of  the  troops, 
and  became  every  day  more  formidable.  Some  negroes  came  into 
the  St.  Charles  hotel,  penetrated  to  the  quarters  of  staff-officers,  and 
gave  information  which  proved  to  be  reliable.  Great  numbers  soon 
nocked  into  the  Custom-House,  pervading  the  numberless  apart- 
ments and  passages  of  that  extensive  edifice,  all  testifying  the  most 
fervent  good- will  toward  the  Union  troops,  all  asking  to  be  allowed 
to  serve  them.  Wherever  there  was  a  Union  post,  negroes  made 
their  appearance — at  Fort  St.  Philip,  Fort  Jackson,  Carrollton, 
Algiers,  Baton  Rouge,  and  elsewhere. 

A  new  article  of  war  forbade  the  return  of  these  fugitives  to 
their  masters.  What  was  to  be  done  with  them  ?  Their  labor  in 
the  city  was  not  wanted ;  there  was  a  superabundance  of  white 
laborers.  If  they  were  entertained  and  encouraged,  what  was  to 
prevent  an  overwhelming  irruption  of  blacks  into  every  post  ?  The 
whole  negro  population  was  in  such  a  ferment,  that  only  a  slight 
misstep  on  the  part  of  the  commanding  general  would  have  sufficed 
to  reduce  society  to  chaos. 

In  these  circumstances,  the  wise,  the  great,  the  splendid  thing  to 
do,  was  to  declare  all  the  slaves  in  Louisiana  free,  and  put  them  all 
upon  wages,  leaving  questions  of  compensation  to  loyal  masters  to 
be  settled  afterward.  General  Butler  was  capable  of  writing  a 
general  order  that  would  have  achieved  this  sublime  revolution 
with  speedy  advantage  to  every  white  and  every  black  in  the  state. 
It  was  possible,  it  was  feasible.  It  was,  of  all  conceivable  solutions 
of  the  problem,  the  most  easy,  the  most  simple,  the  most  expedi- 
tious, the  least  costly,  the  least  dangerous.  But  even  if  the  general 
had  not  been  restrained  by  instructions,  this  course  was  excluded 
even  from  consideration  by  the  arrival  of  news,  on  the  9th  of  May, 
that  General  Hunter's  proclamation  of  freedom  to  the  slaves  of 
South  Carolina  had  been  revoked  by  the  president. 


THE   NEGRO    QUESTION FIRST    DIFFICULTIES.  493 

He  was,  therefore,  shut  up  to  this  one  course :  To  preserve,  for 
the  present,  the  status  in  quo,  minus  as  much  of  the  cruelty  and 
wrong  of  it  as  it  might  be  in  the  power  of  the  Union  officers  to 
prevent.  To  use  Mr.  Lincoln's  expression,  he  was  obliged  "  to  run 
the  machine  as  he  found  it,"  with  such  slight  and  temporary  repairs 
and  modifications  as  could  be  hastily  made.  This  was  the  policy 
adopted.   It  was  never  announced,  but  it  was  the  principle  acted  upon. 

Hence  the  negroes  were  not  encouraged  to  come  in  to  the  Union 
posts.  As  many  as  were  required  for  public  and  private  service 
were  employed,  each  officer  being  allowed  one  as  a  servant.  Seve- 
ral were  assigned  to  the  hospitals.  General  Butler  himself  was 
served  by  "  General  Twiggs's  William."  After  some  days  had 
elapsed,  negroes  were  no  longer  harbored  in  the  Custom-House, 
and  orders  were  issued  that  no  more  should  be  admitted  within 
the  Union  lines,  or  into  the  Union  camps. 

But  negroes,  as  we  have  seen,  were  placed  on  an  equality  with 
white  men  before  the  law,  and  allowed  to  testify  against  a  white 
man  in  court.  The  whipping-houses  were  quietly  abolished,  and 
the  jailers  notified  that  no  more  human  brings  must  be  brought  to 
the  jails  to  be  whipped.  One  of  these  jailers  ventured  to  advertise, 
a  few  weeks  after  the  capture  of  the  city,  that  the  "law  of  Louisi- 
ana for  the  correction  of  slaves  would  be  enforced  as  heretofore." 
The  attention  of  the  general  was  called  to  this  announcement,  and 
Colonel  Stafford  was  ordered  to  inquire  into  it.  It  was  found 
that  one  slave  had  been  brought  in  and  whipped  that  morning ; 
but  there  the  fell  business  stopped.  Whatever  cruelty  was  com- 
mitted in  New  Orleans  upon  the  slaves,  was  done  in  secret ;  no 
traffic  in  torture  was  allowed ;  and  every  slave  who  asked  redress 
for  cruelties  inflicted,  and  could  give  reasonable  proof  of  the  'truth 
of  his  story,  had  redress — had  it  promptly  and  fully.  Major  Bell 
judged  such  cases  as  he  would  have  judged  similar  ones  in  Boston. 
General  Butler  never  refused  a  black  man  admittance  to  his  pres- 
ence by  day  or  by  night,  and  never  failed  to  do  him  justice  when 
justice  was  possible.  The  orders  were,  that  whoever  else  might  be 
excluded  from  head-quarters,  no  negro  should  ever  be.  One  con- 
sequence was,  that  the  general  had  a  spy  in  every  house,  behind 
every  rebel's  chair  as  he  sat  at  table.  Another  consequence  was, 
that  every  slave  in  New  Orleans  had,  at  all  times,  a  protector  from 
cruelty  in  the  commanding  general. 


494  THE    NEGRO    QUESTION FIRST   DIFFICULTIES. 

The  mere  diminution  of  the  slaves'  awful  revenue  of  torture  was 
an  unspeakable  boon  to  them.  Those  hunkers  used  to  hug  the 
delusion,  in  the  old  party  contests,  that  kindness  was  the  rule  and 
cruelty  the  rare  exception,  in  the  treatment  of  the  slaves.  As  if 
despotism  could  be  sustained  by  anything  but  cruelty!  They 
found  that  cruelty  was  the  rule,  and  that  such  exceptional  kindness 
as  is  shown  to  favorite  slaves,  greatly  increases  the  sum-total  of 
their  lifetime's  misery.  Slavery  is  all  cruelty.*  It  was  much  to  only 
lessen  the  vast,  the  incalculable,  the  inconceivable  amount  of  agony 
inflicted  by  the  lash  alone.  Probably  one  whipping  of  thirty -nine 
lashes  with  the  infernal  cowhide  inflicts  more  anguish  than  a 
respectable  Massachusetts  hunker  has  to  endure  during  his  whole 
life.  What  an  instantaneous  change  of  sentiment  on  present  politi- 
cal issues  would  occur,  all  over  the  country,  if  thirty-nine  arguments 
of  that  nature  were  addressed  to  the  devotees  of  slavery  who,  what- 
ever may  be  the  metal  of  their  heads,  are  not  copper-backed. 

Some  planters  who  had  not  the  means  of  supporting  their  slaves, 
or  of  employing  them  profitably,  obliged  them  to  go  within  the 
Union  lines,  trusting  to  reclaim  them  in  better  times.  This  prac- 
tice was  stopped  by  declaring  all  such  slaves  emancipated,  and  giv- 
ing them  free  papers.  Several  slaves  were  also  emancipated  who 
had  been  treated  with  extreme  cruelty  by  their  masters.  The  "star 
car"  system  was  abolished.  Colored  people  were  formerly  allowed 
to  ride  only  in  the  street  cars  that  were  marked  with  a  black  star. 
General  Butler  required  the  admission  of  decent  colored  people  into 
all  the  public  vehicles.  Some  of  the  police  regulations  with  regard 
to  the  slaves  were  still  enforced ;  the  rule  requiring  them  to  be  at 
home  by  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  for  example. 


*  Dr.  Wesley  Humphrey  writes  from  Corinth,  Mississippi,  May  25, 1863: 

"I  have  been  selected  as  the  surgeon  of  the  regiment  of  African  descent,  now  forming  here  (not 
all  black  by  any  means),  and  during  the  past  week  had  occasion  to  examine  about  seven  hundred 
men  in  a  nude  state,  preparatory  to  their  being  mustered  into  the  United  States  service,  and  I 
then  saw  evidences  of  abuse  and  maltreatment  perfectly  horrifying  to  relate,  and  must  be  seen  to 
fully  understand  the  abuse  to  which  they  have  been  subjected.  I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  at 
least  one-half  of  that  number  bore  evidence  of  having  been  severely  whipped  and  maltreated  in 
various  ways ;  some  were  stabbed  with  a  knife ;  others  shot  through  the  limbs ;  some  pounded  with 
clubs,  until  their  bones  were  broken.  One  man  told  me  he  had  received  for  a  trifling  offense  two 
thousand  lashes;  and,  upon  examination,  I  found  seventy -five  scars  on  his  back  and  limbs,  that 
rose  above  the  skin  the  size  of  your  finger,  saying  nothing  of  the  smaller  ones.  Others  had  the 
cords  of  their  legs  cut  (ham strings,  as  they  call  them),  to  prevent  their  running  off;  and  some 
were  shot  in  resenting  such  insults.  These  were  witnessed  by  the  colonel,  J  M.  Alexander,  lieu- 
tenant-colonel, major,  &.c,  of  the  regiment" 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS.  495 

Such  wore  some  of  the  measures  by  which  General  Butler  strove 
to  "  get  along"  with  this  hideous  anomaly,  while  the  president  was 
feeling  his  way  to  a  general  policy,  and  waiting  for  the  ripening  of 
public  opinion.  General  Butler,  like  the  president  himself,  stood 
between  two  fires.  One  set  of  Unionists  in  New  Orleans  kept  say- 
ing to  him,  as  I  read  in  their  letters,  now  before  me  : 

Return  all  fugitives  to  their  masters  ;  show,  by  word  and  deed , 
that  your  sole  object  is  the  restoration  of  the  old  state  of  things  ; 
and  Louisiana  will  return  to  the  Union  "in  a  month." 

Another  party  said  :  "  No  ;  the  original  secessionists  are  incu- 
rable ;  destroy  their  power  by  abolishing  slavery ;  crush  that  in- 
solent faction  utterly ;  and  Louisiana  will  hoist  the  old  flag  with 
enthusiasm." 

He  could  do  neither  of  these  things.  An  article  of  war  forbade 
the  first ;  the  revocation  of  General  Hunter's  proclamation  forbade 
the  second.  His  struggle,  meanwhile,  to  "  get  along"  with  a  difficul- 
ty that  would  not  wait  for  the  tardy  action  of  the  government, 
brought  him  into  painful  and  lamentable  collision  with  General 
Phelps,  which  resulted  in  the  country's  losing  the  services  of  that 
noble  soldier. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS. 

General  Phelps  was  in  command  at  Carrollton,  seven  miles 
above  the  city,  the  post  of  honor  in  the  defensive  cordon  around 
New  Orleans.  "  I  found  myself,"  he  remarks,  "  in  the  midst  of  a 
slave  region,  where  the  institution  existed  in  all  its  pride  and 
gloom,  and  where  its  victims  needed  no  inducement  from  me  to 
seek  the  protection  of  our  flag — that  flag,  which  now,  after  a  long 
interval,  gleamed  once  more  amid  the  darkling  scene,  like  the  ef- 
fusion of  morning  light.  Fugitives  began  to  throng  to  our  lines  in 
large  numbers.  Some  came  loaded  with  chains  and  barbarous 
irons ;  some  bleeding  with  bird-shot  wounds ;  many  had  been 
deeply  scored  with  lashes,  and  all  complained  of  tho  extinction  of 


496         GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS. 

their  moral  rights.  They  had  originally  come  chiefly  from  Mary- 
land, Virginia,  and  North  Carolina,  and  were  generally  religious 
persons,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  better  treatment  than  that 
which  they  experienced  there." 

General  Butler  was  aware  of  this  influx  of  fugitives ;  but,  in 
obedience  to  the  temporary  policy  enjoined  upon  him  by  the  gov- 
ernment, he  took  no  notice  of  the  fact.  The  vehement  desire  of 
General  Phelps  was,  not  merely  to  welcome  and  harbor  the  fugi- 
tives, but  form  them  into  military  companies  and  drill  them  into  ser- 
viceable soldiers.  He  was  grieved,  therefore,  when,  on  the  12th  of 
May,  General  Butler  requested  him  to  place  his  able-bodied  negroes 
under  the  direction  of  two  planters  of  the  vicinity,  that  they  might 
be  employed  in  closing  a  break  in  the  levee  above  Carrollton,  which 
threatened  a  disastrous  inundation.  "  You  will  see,"  wrote  Gen- 
eral Butler,  uthe  need  of  giving  them  every  aid  in  your  power  to 
save  and  protect  the  levee,  even  to  returning  their  own  negroes 
and  adding  others,  if  need  be,  to  their  force.  This  is  outside  of  the 
question  of  returning  negroes.  You  should  send  your  own  sol- 
diers, let  alone  allowing  the  men  who  are  protecting  us  all  from 
the  Mississippi  to  have  the  workmen  who  are  accustomed  to  this 
service." 

General  Phelps  did  not  "  see"  the  need  of  sending  back  his  fugi- 
tives. A  positive  order  settled  the  question  on  the  23d  of  May  : 
"  In  view  of  the  disaster  which  might  occur  to  us,  in  case  a  crevass6 
should  occur  above  our  lines,  I  have  concluded  to  send  a  force  of 
one  hundred  laborers,  in  charge  of  a  guard,  to  attend  to  raising  and 
guarding  the  levee  above  your  lines.  You  will  also  place  every  able- 
bodied  contraband  within  your  camp  in  charge  of  Captain  Page, 
the  officer  of  this  guard,  to  assist  in  this  work."  This  was  better, 
thought  General  Phelps,  than  consigning  the  negroes  to  the  custody 
and  direction  of  their  former  masters.  The  order  was  obeyed,  of 
course. 

Meanwhile,  General  Butler  was  besieged  with  complaints  of  the 
harboring  of  fugitives  in  General  Phelps's  camp.  All  the  complain- 
ants professed  to  be  Union  men  ;  some  of  them  were  such ;  and  most 
of  them  were  the  producers  of  vegetables  for  the  New  Orleans  mar- 
ket. Besides,  the  harboring  of  the  negroes  involved  the  necessity 
of  their  maintenance,  and  invited  the  entire  negro  population  to  fly 
to  the  refuge  of  Union  posts.     It  seemed  to  General  Butler  neces- 


GENERAL   BUTLER    AND    GENERAL   PHELPS.  497 

sary  to  check  the  irruption  before  it  became  unmanageable.     The 
following  order  was  therefore  issued  : 

"  New  Orleans,  Mmj  23,  1862. 

"  General  : — You  will  cause  all  unemployed  persons,  black  and  white, 
to  be  excluded  from  your  lines. 

"  You  will  not  permit  either  black  or  white  persons  to  pass  your  lines, 
not  officers  and  soldiers  or  belonging  to  the  navy  of  the  United  States,  with- 
out a  pass  from  these  head-quarters,  except  they  are  brought  in  under 
guard  as  captured  persons,  with  information,  and  those  to  be  examined 
and  detained  as  prisoners  of  war,  if  they  have  been  in  arms  against  the 
United  States,  or  dismissed  and  sent  away  at  once,  as  the  case  maybe. 
This  does  not  apply  to  boats  passing  up  the  river  without  landing  within 
the  lines. 

"  Provision  dealers  and  marketmen  are  to  be  allowed  to  pass  in  with 
provisions  and  their  wares,  but  not  to  remain  over  night. 

"Persons  having  had  their  permanent  residence  within  your  lines 
before  the  occupation  of  our  troops,  are  not  to  be  considered  unemployed 
persons. 

"  Your  officers  have  reported  a  large  number  of  servants.  Every  officer 
so  reported  employing  servants  will  have  the  allowance  for  servants  de- 
ducted from  his  pay-roll. 

"  Eespectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"B.    F.    BUTLEE. 

uBrig.-Gen.  Phelps,  Commanding  Camp  Parapet" 

General  Phelps  was  struck  with  horror  at  this  command.  The 
fugitives,  however,  were  removed  to  a  point  just  above  the  lines, 
where  they  found  partial  shelter,  and  lived  on  the  bounty  of  the 
soldiers,  who  generously  shared  with  them  their  rations.  An  event 
occurred  on  the  12  th  of  June,  which  brought  on  the  crisis.  On 
the  morning  of  that  day  the  negroes  numbered  seventy-five ;  but, 
within  the  next  twenty-four  hours,  the  number  was  doubled. 

"  The  first  installment,"  reported  Major  Peck,  the  officer  of  the 
day,  "  were  sent  by  a  man  named  La  Blanche,  from  the  other  side 
of  the  river,  on  the  night  of  the  13th,  he  giving  them  their  choice, 
according  to  their  statement,  of  leaving  before  sundown,  or  receiv- 
ing fifty  lashes  each.  Many  of  them  desire  to  return  to  their  mas- 
ter, but  are  prevented  by  fear  of  harsh  treatment.  They  are  of  all 
ages  and  physical  conditions — a  number  of  infants  in  arms,  many 
young  children,  robust  men  and  women,  and  a  large  number  of 
lame,  old,  and  infirm  of  both  sexes.     The  rest  of  them  came  in 


4  OS  GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS. 

singly  and  in  small  parties  from  various  points  up  the  river  within 
a  hundred  miles.  They  brought  with  them  boxes,  bedding  and 
luggage  of  all  sorts,  which  lie  strewn  upon  the  levee  and  the  open 
spaces  around  the  picket.  The  women  and  children,  and  some 
feeble  ones  who  needed  shelter,  were  permitted  to  occupy  a  de- 
serted house  just  outside  the  lines.  They  are  quite  destitute  of 
provisions,  many  having  eaten  nothing  for  days,  except  what  our 
soldiers  have  given  them  from  their  own  rations.  In  accordance 
with  orders  already  issued,  the  guard  was  instructed  to  permit 
none  of  them  to  enter  the  lines.  As  each  '  officer  of  the  day'  will 
be  called  upon  successively  to  deal  with  the  matter,  I  take  the  lib- 
erty to  suggest  whether  some  farther  regulation  in  reference  to 
these  unfortunate  persons  is  not  necessary  to  enable  him  to  do  his 
duty  intelligently,  as  well  as  for  the  very  apparent  additional  rea- 
sons, that  the  congregation  of  such  large  numbers  in  our  immediate 
vicinity  affords  inviting  opportunity  for  mischief  to  ourselves,  and 
also,  that  unless  supplied  with  the  means  of  sustaining  life  by  the 
benevolence  of  the  military  authorities,  or  of  the  citizens  (which  is 
scarcely  supposable),  they  must  shortly  be  reduced  to  suffering  and 
starvation,  in  the  very  sight  of  the  overflowing  store-houses  of  the 
government." 

General  Phelps  could  endure  this  state  of  things  no  longer.  He 
now  wrote  a  paper  on  the  subject  for  the  president's  own  eye, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  pathetic,  eloquent,  and  convincing  pieces 
of  composition  which  the  war  has  produced ;  a  paper  which  anti- 
cipated, by  many  months,  both  the  policy  of  the  government,  and 
the  march  of  public  opinion.  Public  opinion  has  now  coma  up  to 
it.  The  policy  of  the  government  is  now  the  policy  recommended 
by  it.  It  will  now  be  read  with  profound  approval  and  hearty  ad- 
miration, mad  as  it  seemed  to  many  only  sixteen  months  ago : 


"  Camp  Paeapet,  neae  Caeeolltox,  La.,  June  16,  1862. 
"  Oapt.  E.  S.  Davis,  Acting  Assistant  Adjutant-General,  New  Orleans,  La. : 
"  Sie  : — I  inclose  herewith,  for  the  information  of  the  major-general 
commanding  the  department,  a  report  of  Major  Peck,  officer  of  the  day, 
concerning  a  large  number  of  negroes,  of  both  sexes  and  all  ages,  who  are 
lying  near  our  pickets,  with  bag  and  baggage,  as  if  they  had  already  com- 
menced an  exodus.  Many  of  these  negroes  have  been  sent  away  from  one 
of  the  neighboring  sugar  plantations  by  their  owner,  a  Mr.  Babilliard  La 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS.  499 

Blanche,  who  tells  them,  I  am  informed,  that  '  the  Yankees  are  king  here 
now,  and  that  they  must  go  to  their  king  for  food  and  shelter.' 

"  They  are  of  that  four  millions  of  our  colored  subjects  who  have  no 
king  or  chief,  nor  in  fact  any  government  that  can  secure  to  them  the  simplest 
natural  rights.  They  can  not  even  be  entered  into  treaty  stipulations  with 
and  deported  to  the  east,  as  our  Indian  tribes  have  been  to  the  west.  They 
have  no  right  to  the  mediation  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  or  jury  between 
them  and  chains  and  lashes.  They  have  no  right  to  wages  for  their  labor : 
no  right  to  the  Sabbath  ;  no  right  to  the  institution  of  marriage  ;  no  right 
to  letters  or  to  self-defense.  A  small  class  of  owners,  rendered  unfeeling, 
and  even  unconscious  and  unreflecting  by  habit,  and  a  large  part  of  them 
ignorant  and  vicious,  stand  between  them  and  their  government,  destroy- 
ing its  sovereignty.  This  government  has  not  the  power  even  to  regulate 
the  number  of  lashes  that  its  subjects  may  receive.  It  can  not  say  that 
they  shall  receive  thirty-nine  instead  of  forty.  To  a  large  and  growing 
class  of  its  subjects  it  can  secure  neither  justice,  moderation,  nor  the  advan- 
tages of  Christian  religion  ;  and  if  it  can  not  protect  all  its  subjects,  it  can 
protect  none,  either  black  or  white. 

"It  is  nearly  a  hundred  years  since  our  people  first  declared  to  the  nations 
of  the  world  that  all  men  are  born  free ;  and  still  we  have  not  made  our 
declaration  good.  Highly  revolutionary  measures  have  since  then  been 
adopted  by  the  admission  of  Missouri  and  the  annexation  of  Texas  in  favor  of 
slavery  by  the  barest  majorities  of  votes,  while  the  highly  conservative  vote 
of  two-thirds  has  at  length  been  attained  against  slavery,  and  still  slavery 
exists — even,  moreover,  although  two-thirds  of  the  blood  in  the  veins  of 
our  slaves  is  fast  becoming  from  our  own  race.  If  we  wait  for  a  larger  vote, 
or  until  our  slaves'  blood  becomes  more  consanguined  still  with  our  own,  the 
danger  of  a  violent  revolution,  over  which  we  can  have  no  control,  must  be- 
come more  imminent  every  day.  By  a  course  of  undecided  action,  deter- 
mined by  no  policy  but  the  vague  will  of  a  war-distracted  people,  we  run 
the  risk  of  precipitating  that  very  revolutionary  violence  which  we  seem 
seeking  to  avoid. 

"  Let  us  regard  for  a  moment  the  elements  of  such  a  revolution. 

"Many  of  the  slaves  here  have  been  sold  away  from  the  border  states  as 
a  punishment,  being  too  refractory  to  be  dealt  with  there  in  the  face  of  thr, 
civilization  of  the  North.  They  come  here  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
Christian  religion,  with  its  germs  planted  and  expanding,  as  it  were,  in  the 
dark,  rich,  soil  of  their  African  nature,  with  a  feeling  of  relationship  with 
the  families  from  which  they  came,  and  with  a  sense  of  unmerited  banish- 
ment as  culprits,  all  which  tends  to  bring  upon  them  a  greater  severity  of 
treatment  and  a  corresponding  disinclination  '  to  receive  punishment.' 
They  are  far  superior  beings  to  their  ancestors,  who  were  brought  from 
Africa  two  generations  ago,  and  who  occasionally  rebelled  against  compara- 


500         GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS. 

tively  less  severe  punishment  than  is  inflicted  now.  While  rising  in  the 
scale  of  Christian  beings,  their  treatment  is  being  rendered  more  severe  than 
ever.  The  whip,  the  chains,  the  stocks,  and  imprisonment  are  no  mere  fancies 
here  ;  they  are  used  to  any  extent  to  which  the  imagination  of  civilized 
man  may  reach.  Many  of  them  are  as  intelligent  as  their  masters,  and  far 
more  moral,  for  while  the  slave  appeals  to  the  moral  law  as  his  vindication, 
clinging  to  it  as  to  the  very  horns  of  the  altar  of  his  safety  and  his  hope, 
the  master  seldom  hesitates  to  wrest  him  from  it  with  violence  and  con- 
tempt. The  slave,  it  is  true,  bears  no  resentment ;  he  asks  for  no  punish- 
ment for  his  master;  he  simply  claims  justice  for  himself;  and  it  is  this 
feature  of  his  condition  that  promises  more  terror  to  the  retribution  when 
it  comes.  Even  now  the  whites  stand  accursed  by  their  oppression  of 
humanity,  being  subject  to  a  degree  of  confusion,  chaos,  and  enslave- 
ment to  error  and  wrong,  which  northern  society  could  not  credit  or 
comprehend. 

"Added  to  the  four  millions  of  the  colored  race  whose  disaffection  is  in- 
creasing even  more  rapidly  than  their  number,  there  are  at  least  four  millions 
more  of  the  white  race  whose  growing  miseries  will  naturally  seek  compan- 
ionship with  those  of  the  blacks.  This  latter  portion  of  southern  society  has 
its  representatives,  who  swing  from  the  scaffold  with  the  same  desperate 
coolness,  though  from  a  directly  different  cause,  as  that  which  was  mani- 
fested by  John  Brown.  The  traitor  Mumford,  who  swung  the  other  day 
for  trampling  on  the  national  flag,  had  been  rendered  placid  and  indifferent 
in  his  desperation  by  a  government  that  either  could  not  or  would  not 
secure  to  its  subjects  the  blessings  of  liberty  which  that  flag  imports.  The 
South  cries  for  justice  from  the  government  as  well  as  the  North,  though 
in  a  proud  and  resentful  spirit;  and  in  what  manner  is  that  justice  to  be 
obtained  ?  Is  it  to  be  secured  by  that  wretched  resource  of  a  set  of  profli- 
gate politicians,  called  '  reconstruction  V  No,  it  is  to  be  obtained  by  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  and  by  no  other  course. 

"  It  is  vain  to  deny  that  the  slave  system  of  labor  is  giving  shape  to  the 
government  of  the  society  where  it  exists,  and  that  that  government  is  not 
republican,  either  in  form  or  spirit.  It  was  through  this  system  that  the 
leading  conspirators  have  sought  to  fasten  upon  the  people  an  aristocracy 
or  a  despotism  ;  and  it  is  not  sufficient  that  they  should  be  merely  defeated 
in  their  object,  and  the  country  be  rid  of  their  rebellion  ;  for  by  our  consti- 
tution we  are  imperatively  obliged  to  sustain  the  state  against  the  ambi- 
tion of  unprincipled  leaders,  and  secure  to  them  the  republican  form  of 
government.  We  have  positive  duties  to  perform,  and  should  hence  adopt 
and  pursue  a  positive,  decided  policy.  We  have  services  to  render  to  cer- 
tain states  which  they  can  not  perform  for  themselves.  We  are  in  an  emer- 
gency which  the  framers  of  the  constitution  might  easily  have  foreseen, 
and  for  which  they  have  amply  provided. 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS.         501 

"  It  is  clear  that  the  public  good  requires  slavery  to  be  abolished;  but  in 
what  manner  is  it  to  be  done  ?  The  mere  quiet  operation  of  congressional 
law  can  not  deal  with  slavery  as  in  its  former  status  before  the  war,  because 
the  spirit  of  law  is  right  reason,  and  there  is  no  reason  in  slavery.  A  sys- 
tem so  unreasonable  as  slavery  can  not  be  regulated  by  reason.  We  can 
hardly  expect  the  several  states  to  adopt  laws  or  measures  against  their 
own  immediate  interests.  We  have  seen  that  they  will  rather  find  argu- 
ments for  crime  than  seek  measures  for  abolishing  or  modifying  slavery. 
But  there  is  one  principle  which  is  fully  recognized  as  a  necessity  in  condi- 
tions like  ours,  and  that  is  that  the  public  safety  is  the  supreme  law  of  the 
state,  and  that  amid  the  clash  of  arms  the  laws  of  peace  are  silent.  It  is 
then  for  our  president,  the  commander-in-chief  of  our  armies,  to  declare 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  leaving  it  to  the  wisdom  of  congress  to  adopt  meas- 
ures to  meet  the  consequences.  This  is  the  usual  course  pursued  by  a 
general  or  by  a  military  power.  That  power  gives  orders  affecting  compli- 
cated interests  and  millions  of  property,  leaving  it  to  the  other  functions  of 
government  to  adjust  and  regulate  the  effects  produced.  Let  the  president 
abolish  slavery,  and  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  for  congress,  through  a 
well  regulated  system  of  apprenticeship,  to  adopt  safe  measures  for  effect- 
ing a  gradual  transition  from  slavery  to  freedom. 

"  The  existing  system  of  labor  in  Louisiana  is  unsuited  to  the  age ;  and 
by  the  intrusion  of  the  national  forces  it  seems  falling  to  pieces.  It  is  a 
system  of  mutual  jealousy  and  suspicion  between  the  master  and  the  man — 
a  system  of  violence,  immorality  and  vice.  The  fugitive  negro  tells  us  that 
our  presence  renders  his  condition  worse  with  his  master  than  it  was  be- 
fore, and  that  we  offer  no  alleviation  in  return.  The  system  is  impolitic, 
because  it  offers  but  one  stimulant  to  labor  and  effort,  viz. :  the  lash,  when 
another,  viz. :  money,  might  be  added  with  good  effect.  Fear,  and  the  other 
low  and  bad  qualities  of  the  slave,  are  appealed  to,  but  never  the  good. 
The  relation,  therefore,  between  capital  and  labor,  which  ought  to  be  gen- 
erous and  confiding,  is  darkling,  suspicious,  unkindly,  full  of  reproachful 
threats,  and  without  concord  or  peace.  This  condition  of  things  renders 
the  interests  of  society  a  prey  to  politicians.  Politics  cease  to  be  practical 
or  useful. 

"The  questions  that  ought  to  have  been  discussed  in  the  late  extraordi- 
nary convention  of  Louisiana,  are:  First,  What  ought  the  state  of  Louisi- 
ana to  do  to  adapt  her  ancient  system  of  labor  to  the  present  advanced 
spirit  of  the  age  ?  And  Second,  How  can  the  state  be  assisted  by  the  gen- 
eral government  in  effecting  the  change?  But  instead  of  this,  the  only 
question  before  that  body  was  how  to  vindicate  slavery  by  flogging  the 
Yankees! 

"  Compromises  hereafter  are  not  to  be  made  with  politicians,  but  with 
sturdy  labor  and  the  right  to  work.     The  interests  of  workinginen  resent 


502         GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS. 

political  trifling.  Our  political  education,  shaped  almost  entirely  to  the  in- 
terest of  slavery,  has  been  false  and  vicious  in  the  extreme,  and  it  must  be 
corrected  with  as  much  suddenness,  almost,  as  that  with  which  Salem 
witchcraft  came  to  its  end.  The  only  question  that  remains  to  decide  is 
how  the  change  shall  take  place. 

u  We  are  not  without  examples  and  precedents  in  the  history  of  the  past. 
The  enfranchisement  of  the  people  of  Europe  has  been,  and  is  still  going 
on,  through  the  instrumentality  of  military  service ;  and  by  this  means  our 
slaves  might  be  raised  in  the  scale  of  civilization  and  prepared  for  freedom. 
Fifty  regiments  might  be  raised  among  them  at  once,  which  could  be  em- 
ployed in  this  climate  to  preserve  order,  and  thus  prevent  the  necessity  of 
retrenching  our  liberties,  as  we  should  do  by  a  large  army  exclusively  of 
whites.  For  it  is  evident  that  a  considerable  army  of  whites  would  give 
stringency  to  our  government,  while  an  army,  partly  of  blacks,  would  natu- 
rally operate  in  favor  of  freedom  and  against  those  influences  which  at 
present  most  endanger  our  liberties.  At  the  end  of  five  years  they  could 
be  sent  to  Africa,  and  their  places  filled  with  new  enlistments. 

"  There  is  no  practical  evidence  against  the  effects  of  immediate  abolition, 
even  if  there  is  not  in  its  favor.  I  have  witnessed  the  sudden  abolition  of 
flogging  at  will  in  the  army,  and  of  legalized  flogging  in  the  navy,  against 
the  prejudice-warped  judgments  of  both,  and,  from  the  beneficial  effects 
there,  I  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  immediate  abolition  of  slavery.  I 
fear,  rather,  the  violent  consequences  from  a  continuance  of  the  evil.  But 
should  such  an  act  devastate  the  whole  state  of  Louisiana,  and  render  the 
whole  soil  here  but  the  mere  passage-way  of  the  fruits  of  the  enterprise  and 
industry  of  the  Northwest,  it  would  be  better  for  the  country  at  large  than 
it  is  now  as  the  seat  of  disaffection  and  rebellion. 

"When  it  is  remembered  that  not  a  word  is  found  in  our  constitution 
sanctioning  the  buying  and  selling  of  human  beings,  a  shameless  act  which 
renders  our  country  the  disgrace  of  Christendom,  and  worse,  in  this  respect, 
even  than  Africa  herself,  we  should  have  less  dread  of  seeing  the  degrading 
traffic  stopped  at  once  and  for  ever.  Half  wages  are  already  virtually 
paid  for  slave  labor  in  the  system  of  tasks  which,  in  an  unwilling  spirit  of 
compromise,  most  of  the  slave  states  have  already  been  compelled  to  adopt- 
At  the  end  of  five  years  of  apprenticeship,  or  of  fifteen  at  farthest,  full 
wages  could  be  paid  to  the  enfranchised  negro  race,  to  the  double  advan- 
tage of  both  master  and  man.  This  is  just ;  for  we  now  hold  the  slaves  of 
Louisiana  by  the  same  tenure  that  the  state  can  alone  claim  them,  viz. :  by 
the  original  right  of  conquest.  We  have  so  far  conquered  them  that  a  proc- 
lamation setting  them  free,  coupled  with  offers  of  protection,  would  devas- 
tate every  plantation  in  the  state. 

"  In  conclusion,  I  may  state  that  Mr.  La  Blanche  is,  as  I  am  informed,  a 
descendant  from  one  of  the  oldest  families  of  Louisiana.    He  is  wealthy  and 


GlSMEKAu    M7TLER   AND    GENERAL   PHELPS.  503 

a  man  of  standing,  and  his  act  in  sending  away  his  negroes  to  our  lines, 
■with  their  clothes  and  furniture,  appears  to  indicate  the  convictions  of  his 
own  mind  as  to  the  proper  logical  consequences  and  deductions  that  should 
follow  from  the  present  relative  status  of  the  two  contending  parties.  He 
seems  to  be  convinced  that  the  proper  result  of  the  conflict  is  the  manumis- 
sion of  the  slave,  and  he  may  be  safely  regarded  in  this  respect  as  a  repre- 
sentative man  of  the  state.  I  so  regard  him  myself,  and  thus  do  I  interpret 
his  action,  although  my  camp  now  contains  some  of  the  highest  symbols  of 
secessionism,  which  have  been  taken  by  a  party  of  the  Seventh  Vermont 
volunteers  from  his  residence. 

''Meantime  his  slaves,  old  and  young,  little  ones  and  all,  are  suffering 
from  exposure  and  uncertainty  as  to  their  future  condition.  Driven  away 
by  their  master,  with  threats  of  violence  if  they  return,  and  with  no  deci- 
ded welcome  or  reception  from  us,  what  is  to  be  their  lot  ?  Considerations 
of  humanity  are  pressing  for  an  immediate  solution  of  their  difficulties ;  and 
they  are  but  a  small  portion  of  their  race  who  have  sought,  and  are  still 
seeking,  our  pickets  and  our  military  stations,  declaring  that  they  can  not 
and  will  not  any  longer  serve  their  masters,  and  that  all  they  want  is  work 
and  protection  from  us.  In  such  a  state  of  things,  the  question  occurs  as 
to  my  own  action  in  the  case.  I  can  not  return  them  to  their  masters,  who 
not  unfrequently  come  in  search  of  them,  for  I  am,  fortunately,  prohibited 
by  an  article  of  war  from  doing  that,  even  if  my  own  nature  did  not  revolt 
at  it.  I  can  not  receive  them,  for  I  have  neither  work,  shelter,  nor  the 
means  or  plan  of  transporting  them  to  Hayti,  or  of  making  suitable  arrange- 
ments with  their  masters  until  they  can  be  provided  for. 

"It  is  evident  that  some  plan,  some  policy,  or  some  system  is  necessary 
on  the  part  of  the  government,  without  which  the  agent  can  do  nothing, 
and  all  his  efforts  are  rendered  useless  and  of  no  effect.  This  is  no  new 
condition  in  which  I  find  myself;  it  is  my  experience  during  the  some 
twenty-five  years  of  my  public  life  as  a  military  officer  of  the  government. 
The  new  article  of  war  recently  adopted  by  congress,  rendering  it  criminal 
in  an  officer  of  the  army  to  return  fugitives  from  injustice,  is  the  first  sup- 
port that  I  have  ever  felt  from  the  government  in  contending  against  those 
slave  influences  which  are  opposed  to  its  character  and  to  its  interests. 
But  the  mere  refusal  to  return  fugitives  does  not  now  meet  the  case.  A 
public  agent  in  the  present  emergency  must  be  invested  with  wider  and 
more  positive  powers  than  this,  or  his  services  will  prove  as  valueless  to  the 
country  as  they  are  unsatisfactory  to  himself. 

"  Desiring  this  communication  to  be  laid  before  the  president,  and  leav- 
ing my  commission  at  his  disposal, 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  sir, 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"J.  W.  Phelps,  Brigadier- General." 


504         GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS. 

General  Butler  received  this  communication  just  as  a  mail  steamer 
was  about  to  sail  for  New  York.  He  detained  the  steamer  while 
he  wrote  the  following  just  and  considerate  dispatch,  a  copy  of 
which  was  courteously  sent  to  General  Phelps : 

"New  Orleans,  La.,  June  18,  1862. 
"  Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War  : 

"  Sie  : — Since  my  last  dispatch  was  written,  I  have  received  the  accom- 
panying report  from  General  Phelps. 

"It  is  not  my  duty  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  questions  which  it 
presents. 

"  I  desire,  however,  to  state  the  information  of  Mr.  La  Blanche,  given 
me  by  his  friends  and  neighbors,  and  also  gathered  from  Jack  La  Blanche, 
his  slave,  who  seems  to  be  the  leader  of  this  party  of  negroes.  Mr.  La 
Blanche  I  have  not  seen.  He,  however,  claims  to  be  loyal,  and  to  have 
taken  no  part  in  the  war,  but  to  have  lived  quietly  on  his  plantation,  some 
twelve  miles  above  New  Orleans,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  He  has 
a  son  in  the  secession  army,  whose  uniform  and  equipments,  &c,  are  the 
symbols  of  secession  of  which  General  Phelps  speaks.  Mr.  La  Blanche's 
house  was  searched  by  the  order  of  General  Phelps,  for  arms  and  contraband 
of  war,  and  his  neighbors  say  that  his  negroes  were  told  that  they  were 
free  if  they  would  come  to  the  general's  camp. 

"  That  thereupon  the  negroes,  under  the  lead  of  Jack,  determined  to  leave, 
and  for  that  purpose  crowded  into  a  small  boat  which,  from  overloading, 
was  in  danger  of  swamping. 

"  La  Blanche  then  told  his  negroes  that  if  they  were  determined  to  go, 
they  would  be  drowned,  and  he  would  hire  them  a  large  boat  to  put  them 
across  the  river,  and  that  they  might  have  their  furniture  if  they  would  go 
and  leave  his  plantation  and  crop  to  ruin. 

"  They  decided  to  go,  and  La  Blanche  did  all  a  man  could  to  make  that 
going  safe. 

"The  account  of  General  Phelps  is  the  negro  side  of  the  story;  that 
above  given  is  the  story  of  Mr.  La  Blanche's  neighbors,  some  of  whom  ] 
knoAv  to  be  loyal  men. 

"  An  order  against  negroes  being  allowed  in  camp  is  the  reason  they  are 
outside. 

"  Mr.  La  Blanche  is  represented  to  be  a  humane  man,  and  did  not  con- 
sent to  the  '  exodus'  of  his.  negroes. 

"  General  Phelps,  I  believe,  intends  making  this  a  test  case  for  the  policy 
of  the  government.  I  wish  it  might  be  so,  for  the  difference  of  our  action 
upon  this  subject  is  a  source  of  trouble.  I  respect  his  honest  sincerity  of 
opinion,  but  I  am  a  soldier,  bound  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  my  govern- 
ment so  long  as  I  hold  its  commission,  and  I  understand  that  policy  to  be 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS. 

the  one  I  am  pursuing.  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  pursue  any  other.  If 
the  policy  of  the  government  is  nearly  that  I  sketched  in  my  report  upon 
this  subject  and  that  which  I  have  ordered  in  this  department,  then  the  ser- 
vices of  General  Phelps  are  worse  than  useless  here.  Jf  the  views  set  forth 
in  his  report  are  to  obtain,  then  he  is  invaluable,  for  his  whole  soul  is  in  it, 
and  he  is  a  good  soldier  of  large  experience,  and  no  brav.er  man  lives.  I 
beg  to  leave  the  whole  question  with  the  president,  with  perhaps  the  need- 
less assurance  that  his  wishes  shall  be  loyally  followed,  were  they  not  in 
accordance  with  my  own,  as  I  have  now  no  right  to  have  any  upon  the  sub- 
ject, 

"I  write  in  haste,  as  the  steamer  Mississippi  is  awaiting  this  dispatch. 

"  Awaiting  the  earliest  possible  instructions,  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 
"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"B.  F.  Butlee,  Major- General  Commanding." 

A  month  or  more  passed.  The  negroes  remained  in  the  vicinity 
of  Camp  Parapet.  "I  awaited  an  answer  from  Washington,"  says 
General  Phelps,  "  for  about  six  weeks,  when,  as  a  great  many  ne- 
groes had  in  the  mean  time  thronged  to  my  camp,  and  no  answer 
came,  I  was  left  to  the  inference  that  silence  gives  consent,  and  pro- 
ceeded therefore  to  take  such  decided  measures  as  appeared  best 
calculated,  to  me,  to  dispose  of  the  difficulty." 

In  other  words,  General  Phelps  determined  to  act  as  if  the  gov 
ernment  had  given  just  the  answer  which  he  desired.  He  accord 
ingly  sent  to  head-quarters  the  following  requisition : 

u  Camp  Pabapet,  La.,  July  30,  1862. 
"Captain  K.  S.  Davis,  A.  A.  A.  General,  New  Orleans,  La.  : 

"  Sik  : — I  inclose  herewith  requisitions  for  arms,  accouterments,  clothing, 
camp  and  garrison  equipage,  &c,  for  three  regiments  of  Africans,  which  1 
propose  to  raise  for  the  defense  of  this  point.  The  location  is  swampy  and 
unhealthy,  and  our  men  are  dying  at  the  rate  of  two  or  three  a  day. 

"  The  southern  loyalists  are  willing,  as  I  understand,  to  furnish  their 
share  of  the  tax  for  the  support  of  the  war ;  but  they  should  also  furnish  • 
their  quota  of  men,  which  they  have  not  thus  far  done.  An  opportunity 
now  offers  of  supplying  the  deficiency ;  and  it  is  not  safe  to  neglect  oppor- 
tunities in  war.  I  think  that,  with  the  proper  facilities,  I  could  raise  the 
three  regiments  proposed  in  a  short  time.  Without  holding  out  any  in- 
ducements, or  offering  any  reward,  I  have  now  upward  of  three  hundred 
Africans  organized  into  five  companies,  who  are  all  willing  and  ready  to 
show  their  devotion  to  our  cause  in  any  way  that  it  may  be  put  to  the  test. 
They  are  willing  to  submit  to  anything  rather  than  to  slavery. 


506  GENERAL   BUTLER    AND    GENERAL   PHELPS. 

"  Society  in  the  South  seems  to  be  on  the  point  of  dissolution ;  and  the 
best  way  of  preventing  the  African  from  becoming  instrumental  in  a  gen- 
eral state  of  anarchy,  is  to  enlist  him  in  the  cause  of  the  Republic,  If  we 
reject  his  services,  any  petty  military  chieftain,  by  offering  him  freedom, 
can  have  them  for  the  purpose  of  robbery  and  plunder.  It  is  for  the  inter- 
ests of  the  South,  as  well  as  of  the  North,  that  the  African  should  be  per- 
mitted to  offer  his  block  for  the  temple  of  freedom.  Sentiments  unworthy 
of  the  man  of  the  present  day — worthy  only  of  another  Cain — could  alone 
prevent  such  an  offer  from  being  accepted. 

"  I  would  recommend  that  the  cadet  graduates  of  the  present  year  should 
be  sent  to  South  Carolina  and  this  point  to  organize  and  discipline  our  Af- 
rican levies,  and  that  the  more  promising  non-commissioned  officers  and 
privates  of  the  army  be  appointed  as  company  officers  to  command  them. 
Prompt  and  energetic  efforts  in  this  direction  would  probably  accomplish 
more  toward  a  speedy  termination  of  the  war,  and  an  early  restoration  of 
peace  and  unity,  than  any  other  course  which  could  be  adopted. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"J.  W.  Phelps,  Brigadier- General" 


About  this  time,  arrived  at  New  Orleans  the  intelligence  that 
congress  had  passed  an  act  authorizing  officers  commanding  de- 
partments and  posts,  to  employ  as  many  negro  laborers  as  the  pub- 
lic service  required.  General  Butler  hailed  the  act  with  delight, 
since  it  afforded  a  promise  of  an  arrangement  with  General  Phelps. 
He  caused  the  following  answer  to  be  given  to  the  requisition : 

"New  Oeleans,  July  31,  1862. 
"  Geneeal  : — The  general  commanding  wishes  you  to  employ  the  con- 
trabands in  and  about  your  camp  in  cutting  down  all  the  trees,  &c,  be- 
tween your  lines  and  the  lake,  and  in  forming  abatis,  according  to  the  plan 
agreed  upon  between  you  and  Lieutenant  Weitzel  when  he  visited  you  some 
time  since.  What  wood  is  not  needed  by  you  is  much  needed  in  this  city. 
For  this  purpose  I  have  ordered  the  quartermaster  to  furnish  you  with  axes, 
and  tents  for  the  contrabands  to  be  quartered  in. 

u  I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  By  order  of  Major-General  Butler. 
"E.  S.  Davis,   Capt.  and  A.  A.  A.  G. 
"  To  Brigadier- General  J.  W.  Phelps,  Camp  Parapet." 

It  was  of  no  avail.  In  his  reply  to  this  communication,  General 
Phelps,  I  can  not  but  think,  put  himself  signally  in  the  wrong. 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS.         507 

"Camp  Paeapet,  La.,  July  31,  1862. 
"  Captain  R.  S.  Davis,  A.  A.  A.  General,  New  Orleans,  La. : 

"Sie: — The  communication  from  jour  office  of  this  date,  signed,  'By 
order  of  Major-General  Butler,'  directing  me  to  employ  the  '  contrabands' 
in  and  about  my  camp  in  cutting  down  all  the  trees  between  my  lines  and 
the  lake,  etc.,  has  just  been  received. 

"In  reply,  I  must  state  that  while  I  am  willing  to  prepare  African  regi- 
ments for  the  defense  of  the  government  against  its  assailants,  I  am  not 
willing  to  become  the  mere  slave-driver  which  you  propose,  having  no 
qualifications  in  that  way.  I  am,  therefore,  under  the  necessity  of  tender- 
ing the  resignation  of  my  commission  as  an  officer  of  the  army  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  and  respectfully  request  a  leave  of  absence  until  it  is  accepted, 
in  accordance  with  paragraph  29,  page  12,  of  the  general  regulations. 

"  While  I  am  writing,  at  half-past  eight  o'clock  p.  m.,  a  colored  man  is 
brought  in  by  one  of  the  pickets  who  has  just  been  wounded  in  the  side  by 
a  charge  of  shot,  which  he  says  was  fired  at  him  by  one  of  a  party  of  three 
slave-hunters  or  guerillas,  a  mile  or  more  from  our  line  of  sentinels.  As 
it  is  some  distance  from  the  camp  to  the  lake,  the  party  of  wood-choppers 
which  you  have  directed  will  probably  need  a  considerable  force  to  guard 
them  against  similar  attacks. 

u  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"J.  W.  Phelps,  Brigadier- General." 

General  Butler  thus  replied : 

"New  Oeleans,  August  2,  1862. 

"  Geneeal  : — I  was  somewhat  surprised  to  receive  your  resignation  for 
the  reasons  stated. 

"  When  you  were  put  in  command  at  Camp  Parapet,  I  sent  Lieutenant 
Weitzel,  my  chief  engineer,  to  make  a  reconnoissance  of  the  lines  of  Car- 
rollton,  and  I  understand  it  was  agreed  between  you  and  the  engineer  that 
a  removal  of  the  wood  between  Lake  Pontchartrain  and  the  right  of  your 
intrenchment  was  a  necessary  military  precaution.  The  work  could  not  be 
done  at  that  time  because  of  the  stage  of  water  and  the  want  of  men.  But 
now  both  water  and  men  concur.  You  have  five  hundred  Africans  organ- 
ized into  companies,  you  write  me.  This  work  they  are  fitted  to  do.  It 
must  either  be  done  by  them  or  my  soldiers,  now  drilled  and  disciplined. 
You  have  said  the  location  is  unhealthy  for  the  soldier,  it  is  not  to  the  ne- 
gro; is  it  not  best  that  these  unemployed  Africans  should  do  this  labor? 
My  attention  is  specially  called  to  this  matter  at  the  present  time,  because 
there  are  reports  of  demonstrations  to  be  made  on  your  lines  by  the  rebels, 
and  in  my  judgment  it  is  a  matter  of  necessary  precaution  thus  to  clear  the 
right  of  your  line,  so  that  you  can  receive  the  proper  aid  from  the  gun-boats 
23 


508         GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS. 

on  the  lake,  besides  preventing  the  enemy  from  having  cover.  To  do  this 
the  negroes  ought  to  be  employed ;  and  in  so  employing  them  I  see  no  evi- 
dence of  'slave-driving'  or  employing  you  as  a  'slave-driver.' 

"  The  soldiers  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  did  this  very  thing  last  sum- 
mer in  front  of  Arlington  Hights :  are  the  negroes  any  better  than  they  ? 

"  Because  of  an  order  to  do  this  necessary  thing  to  protect  your  front, 
threatened  by  the  enemy,  you  tender  your  resignation  and  ask  immediate 
leave  of  absence.  I  assure  you  I  did  not  expect  this,  either  from  your  cour- 
age, your  patriotism,  or  your  good  sense.  To  resign  in  the  face  of  an  en- 
emy has  not  been  the  highest  plaudit  to  a  soldier,  especially  when  the  rea- 
son assigned  is  that  he  is  ordered  to  do  that  which  a  recent  act  of  congress 
has  specially  authorized  a  military  commander  to  do,  i.  <?.,  employ  the  Afri- 
cans to  do  the  necessary  work  about  a  camp  or  upon  a  fortification. 

"  General,  your  resignation  will  not  be  accepted  by  me,  leave  of  absence 
will  not  be  granted,  and  you  will  see  to  it  that  my  orders,  thus  necessary 
for  the  defense  of  the  city,  are  faithfully  and  diligently  executed,  upon  the 
responsibility  that  a  soldier  in  the  field  owes  to  his  superior.  I  will  see  that 
all  proper  requisitions  for  the  food,  shelter,  and  clothing  of  these  negroes 
so  at  work  are  at  once  filled  by  the  proper  departments.  You  will  also 
send  out  a  proper  guard  to  protect  the  laborers  against  the  guerilla  force, 
if  any,  that  may  be  in  the  neighborhood. 

"  I  am  your  obedient  servant, 
"  Ben j.  F.  Butler,  Major-  General  Commanding. 

"Brigadier- General  J.  "W.  Phelps,  commanding  at  Camp  Parapet" 

On  the  same  day,  General  Butler  wrote  again  to  General 
Phelps : 

"New  Orleans,  August  2,  1862. 

"General: — By  the  act  of  congress,  as  I  understand  it,  the  president 
of  the  United  States  alone  has  the  authority  to  employ  Africans  in  arms  as 
a  part  of  the  military  forces  of  the  United  States. 

"  Every  law  up  to  this  time  raising  volunteer  or  militia  forces  has  been 
opposed  to  their  employment.  The  president  has  not  as  yet  indicated  his 
purpose  to  employ  the  Africans  in  arms. 

"  The  arms,  clothing,  and  camp  equipage  which  I  have  here  for  the  Lou- 
isiana volunteers,  is,  by  the  letter  of  the  secretary  of  war,  expressly  limited 
to  white  soldiers,  so  that  I  have  no  authority  to  divert  them,  however  much 
I  may  desire  so  to  do. 

"  I  do  not  think  you  are  empowered  to  organize  into  companies  negroes, 
and  drill  them  as  a  military  organization,  as  I  am  not  surprised,  bnt  unex- 
pectedly informed  you  have  done.  I  can  not  sanction  this  course  of  action 
as  at  present  advised,  specially  when  we  have  need  of  the  services  of  the 


GENERAL  BUTLEK  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS.  509 

blacks,  who  are  being  sheltered  upon  the  outskirts  of  your  camp,  as  you  will 
see  by  the  orders  for  their  employment  sent  you  by  the  assistant  adjutant- 
general. 

M I  will  send  your  application  to  the  president,  but  in  the  mean  time  you 
must  desist  from  the  formation  of  any  negro  military  organization. 

"  I  am  your  obedient  servant, 
"Benj.  F.  Butlee,  Major- General  Commanding. 
u  Brigadier-General  Phelps,  commanding  forces  at  Camp  Parapet." 

With  these  official  letters  General  Butler  sent  a  private  one,  in 
which  he  gave  utterance  to  his  sincere  appreciation  of  General 
Phelps's  abilities,  patriotism  and  humanity,  and  implored  him  not  to 
persist  in  a  course  which  must  place  him  in  an  attitude  of  hostility 
to  the  commander  of  the  department.  "  A  more  delicate,  generous, 
or  considerate  letter  I  never  read,"  says  Captain  Puffer,  who 
wrote  it  from  the  general's  dictation. 

General  Phelps  was  immovable.  He  at  once  replied  to  the  two 
official  letters : 

u  Camp  Parapet,  La.,  August  2,  1862. 
"  Major-General  B.  F.  Btttler,  commanding  the  Department  of  the  Gulf : 

"  Sir: — Two  communications  from  you  of  this  date  have  this  moment 
been  received.  One  of  them  refers  to  the  raising  of  volunteers  or  militia 
forces,  stating  that  I  '  must  desist  from  the  formation  of  any  negro  military 
organization,'  and  the  other  declaring,  in  a  spirit  contrary  to  all  usage  of 
military  service,  and  to  all  the  rights  and  liberties  of  a  citizen  of  a  freG 
government,  that  my  resignation  will  not  be  accepted  by  you ;  that  a  leave 
of  absence  until  its  acceptance  by  the  president  will  not  be  granted  me ; 
and  that  I  must  see  to  it  that  your  orders,  which  I  could  not  obey  without 
becoming  a  slave  myself,  are  '  faithfully  and  diligently  executed.' 

"It  can  be  of  but  little  consequence  to  me  as  to  what  kind  of  slavery  I 
am  to  be  subjected,  whether  to  African  slavery  or  to  that  which  you  thus 
so  offensively  propose  for  me,  giving  me  an  order  wholly  opposed  to  my 
convictions  of  right  as  well  as  of  the  higher  scale  of  public  necessities  in 
the  case,  and  insisting  upon  my  complying  with  it  faithfully  and  diligently, 
allowing  me  no  room  to  escape  writh  my  convictions  or  my  principles  at 
any  sacrifice  that  I  may  make.  I  can  not  submit  to  either  kind  of  slavery, 
and  can  not,  therefore,  for  a  double  reason,  comply  with  your  order  of  the 
31st  of  July  ;  in  complying  with  which  I  should  submit  to  both  kinds — 
both  to  African  slavery  and  to  that  to  which  you  resort  in  its  defense. 

"  Desirous  to  the  last  of  saving  the  public  interests  involved,  I  appeal  to 
your  sense  of  justice  to  reconsider  your  decision,  and  make  the  most  to  the 


510  GEtfERAJL   BUTLER   AND   GENERAL  PHELPS. 

cause  out  of  the  sacrifice  which  I  offer,  by  granting  the  quiet,  proper,  and 
customary  action  upon  my  resignation.  By  refusing  my  request,  you  would 
subject  me  to  great  inconvenience,  without,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  any  advan- 
tage either  to  yourself  or  to  the  service. 

"  With  the  view  of  securing  myself  a  tardy  justice  in  the  case,  being  re- 
mote from  the  capital,  where  the  transmission  of  the  mails  is  remarkably 
irregular  and  uncertain,  and  in  order  to  give  you  every  assurance  that  my 
resignation  is  tendered  in  strict  compliance  with  paragraph  29  of  the  regu- 
lations, to  be  'unconditional  and  immediate,'  I  herewith  inclose  a  copy  for 
the  adjutant-general  of  the  army,  which  I  desire  may  be  forwarded  to  him 
to  lay  before  the  president  for  as  early  action  in  the  case  as  his  excellency 
may  be  pleased  to  accord.  And  as  my  position,  sufficiently  unpleasant  al- 
ready, promises  to  become  much  more  so  still  by  the  course  of  action  which 
I  am  sorry  to  find  that  you  deem  it  proper  to  pursue,  I  urgently  request 
his  excellency,  by  a  speedy  acceptance  of  my  commission,  to  liberate  me 
from  that  sense  of  suffocation,  from  that  darkling  sense  of  bondage  and  en- 
thrallment  which,  it  appears  to  me,  like  the  snake  around  the  muscles  and 
sinews  of  Laocoon,  is  entangling  and  deadening  the  energies  of  the  gov- 
ernment and  country,  when  a  decisive  act  might  cut  the  coils  and  liberate 
us  from  their  baneful  and  fascinating  influence  for  ever. 

"  In  conclusion  of  this  communication,  and  I  should  also  hope  of  my  ser- 
vices in  this  department,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  state,  lest  it  might  not 
otherwise  come  to  your  notice,  that  several  parties  of  the  free  colored  men 
of  New  Orleans  have  recently  come  to  consult  me  on  the  propriety  of  rais- 
ing one  or  two  regiments  of  volunteers  from  their  class  of  the  population 
for  the  defense  of  the  government  and  good  order,  and  that  I  have  recom- 
mended them  to  propose  the  measure  to  you,  having  no  power  to  act  upon 
it  myself. 

"  I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"J.  W.  Phelps,  Brigadier- General. 

"  P.  S.  Monday,  August  4. — The  negroes  increase  rapidly.  There  are 
doubtless  now  six  hundred  able-bodied  men  in  camp.  These,  added  to 
those  who  are  suffering  uselessly  in  the  prisons  and  jails  of  New  Orleans 
and  vicinity,  and  feeding  from  the  general  stock  of  provisions,  would  make 
a  good  regiment  of  one  thousand  men,  who  might  contribute  as  much  to 
the  preservation  of  law  and  good  order  as  a  regiment  of  Caucasians,  and 
probably  much  more.  Now  a  mere  burden,  they  might  become  a  benifi- 
cent  element  of  governmental  power. 

"J.W.P." 

General  Butler  remained  firm  to  his  purpose. 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS.         511 

"  New  Orleans,  August  4,  1862. 

"General: — Your  communication  of  to-day  has  been  received.  I  had 
forwarded  your  resignation  on  the  day  it  was  received,  to  the  president  of 
the  United  States,  so  that  there  will  be  no  occasion  of  forwarding  a  dupli- 
cate. I  am  not  at  liberty  to  accept  your  resignation.  I  can  not  consist- 
ently with  my  duty  and  the  orders  of  the  war  department  grant  you  a  leave 
of  absence  till  it  is  accepted  by  the  president,  for  want  of  officers  to  supply 
your  place. 

"  I  see  nothing  unusual,  nor  do  I  intend  anything  so,  in  the  refusal  to  ac- 
cept the  resignation  of  an  officer,  where  his  place  can  not  be  at  the  present 
moment  supplied. 

"I  pray  you  to  understand  that  there  was  nothing  intended  to  be  offen- 
sive to  you  in  either  the  matter  or  manner  of  my  communication.  In 
directing  you  to  cease  military  organization  of  the  negroes,  I  do  but  carry 
out  the  law  of  congress  as  I  understand  it ;  and  in  doing  which  I  have  no 
choice.  I  can  see  neither  African  nor  other  slavery  in  the  commander  of 
the  post  clearing  from  the  front  of  his  line,  by  means  of  able-bodied  men 
under  his  control,  the  trees  and  underbrush,  which  would  afford  cover  and 
shelter  to  his  enemies  in  case  of  attack,  especially  where  the  very  measure, 
as  a  precautionary  one,  was  advised  by  yourself;  and  while  in  deference  to 
your  age  and  experience  as  a  soldier,  and  the  appreciation  I  have  of  your 
many  good  qualities  of  heart,  I  have  withdrawn  and  do  withdraw  anything 
you  may  find  offensive  in  my  communication ;  still  I  must  request  a  cate- 
gorical answer  to  this  question  :  Will  you  or  will  you  not  employ  a  proper 
portion  of  the  negroes  now  within  your  lines  in  cutting  down  the  trees 
which  afford  cover  to  the  enemy  in  the  front  and  right  of  your  line  ? 

11 1  pray  you  to  observe,  that  if  there  is  anything  of  wrong  in  this  order, 
that  wrong  is  mine,  for  you  have  sufficiently  protested  against  it.  You  are 
not  responsible  for  it  more  than  the  hand  that  executes  it ;  it  can  offend 
neither  your  political  nor  moral  sense. 

"  With  sentiments  of  the  utmost  kindness  and  respect,  I  am  your  obe- 
dient servant, 

"  B.  F.  Butler,  Major-  General  Commanding. 

"  Brigadier-General  J.  W.  Phelps,  commanding  at  Carrollton." 

General  Phelps  would  not  give  the  "categorical  answer"  re- 
quired. Instead  of  that,  he  favored  the  president  with  an  unan- 
swerable argument  in  favor  of  employing  the  negroes  as  soldiers. 

"Camp  Parapet,  La.,  August  5,  1862. 
"Major-General  Benjamin  P.  Butler,  commanding  the  Department  of 
the  Gulf,  New  Orleans,  Louisiana  : 
"Sir  : — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  communica- 


512         GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS. 

tion  of  yesterday,  proposing  a  question  for  a  categorical  answer,  which 
came  to  hand  at  a  quarter  before  one  o'clock  p.  m.  to-day. 

"To  propose  a  question,  either  specific  or  abstract,  of  obedience  to  orders, 
after  I  had  tendered  my  resignation  immediate  and  unconditional,  seems  to 
me  hardly  compatible  with  the  '  sentiments  of  kindness'  that  you  express. 
If  I  am  to  be  detained  here  against  my  wishes  because  my  place  can  not  at 
present  be  supplied,  then,  at  least,  I  ought  not  to  be  troubled  with  unneces- 
sary issues  between  my  sense  of  obedience  to  orders,  and  my  convictions 
and  principles.  I  am  willing  to  fill  a  place  temporarily,  and  perform  the 
routinary  duties  of  my  profession  until  the  acceptance  of  my  resignation ; 
but  as  I  am  left  wholly  destitute  of  the  proper  power  and  authority  to  meet 
the  urgent  and  practical  questions  that  come  up  every  day  for  solution,  it 
would  seem  to  me  idle  to  comply  with  merely  one  measure  among  many, 
especially  when  we  have  work  enough  already  for  our  negroes  to  do,  and 
when  the  order  proposed,  if  extended  to  other  obstructions  as  well  as  trees, 
would  occasion  a  great  amount  of  unnecessary  labor  and  destruction. 

"My  dear  sir,  it  is  not  a  question  of  obedience  to  orders  between  us.  I 
fully  appreciate  the  difficulties  of  your  position,  and  the  varied  abilities, 
patriotism  and  untiring  diligence  which  you  have  shown  in  meeting  them  ; 
and  it  is  with  great  reluctance  and  regret  that  I  have  to  trouble  you  with 
anything  of  my  own ;  but  at  a  crisis  in  our  national  affairs  so  important  as 
this,  I  should  not  be  doing  my  duty  either  to  the  country  or  to  the  govern- 
ment— I  should  mislead  them  both,  were  I  to  remain  quietly  at  my  post, 
with  the  semblance,  but  without  the  power  of  fulfilling  the  duties  incum- 
bent upon  it.  I  should  endanger  and  complicate  public  interests  in  this 
way,  rather  than  serve  them. 

"  The  distance  of  this  station  from  the  capital  of  the  country ;  the  isregular- 
ity  and  studied  uncertainty  of  the  mails ;  the  uncongenial  character  of  Latin 
laws  and  education,  and  slave  labor  to  democratic  institutions ;  the  specu- 
lating character  of  the  people  habituated  to  conspiratorial  associations,  idle 
combinations  and  fraudulent  collusions ;  all  these  and  many  other  elements 
of  disorder  and  opposition  to  legitimate  authority,  Lilliputian  as  they  are 
when  viewed  by  themselves,  seem  threatening  to  entangle  the  feeble,  hesi- 
tating and  undecided  action  of  the  government,  and  render  its  great  and 
beneficent  power  of  no  avail.  As  it  is,  we  seem  to  be  in  a  foreign  country 
rather  than  in  the  United  States,  not  so  much  from  the  character  of  tho 
people  as  from  the  want  of  action  of  the  government  upon  it. 

"  You  ask  me  whether  I  will  obey  a  certain  order  or  not.  With  perfect 
respect  and  deference  for  yourself  and  your  position,  I  beg  leave  to  be  per- 
mitted in  return  to  submit  the  following  propositions  to  his  excellency  the 
president  of  the  United  States,  as  those  under  which  I  could  alone  consent 
to  serve. 

"1st.  The  people  purchased  a  large  region  of  country  called  Louisiana, 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  GENERAL  PHELPS.         513 

which,  at  the  time  of  purchase,  embraced  a  very  considerable  portion  of 
the  south-west,  and  they  have  a  right  to  this  territory  for  the  purposes 
designed  by  their  constitution,  viz. :  to  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to 
themselves  and  their  posterity. 

"  2d.  The  people  are  temporarily  withheld  from  a  full,  perfect  and  peace- 
able possession  of  this  territory,  by  a  few  ambitious  leaders  and  their  de- 
luded partisans. 

"  3d.  Every  state  of  the  Union  is  bound  to  furnish  her  share  of  taxes 
and  her  quota  of  men  for  the  suppression  of  domestic  insurrection;  and  the 
quota  of  men  of  the  slave  states  should  be  based  upon  the  total  number  of 
whites,  and  three-fifths  of  all  other  persons  in  those  states. 

"  4th.  Society  here  is  on  the  verge  of  dissolution ;  and  it  is  the  true  policy 
of  the  government  to  seize  upon  the  chief  elements  of  disorder  and  anarchy, 
and  employ  them  in  favor  of  law  and  order.  The  African,  ignorant  and  be- 
nighted, yet  newly  awakened  to  liberty,  threatens  to  be  a  fearful  element 
of  ruin  and  disaster ;  and  the  best  way  to  prevent  it,  is  to  arm  and  organize 
him  on  the  side  of  the  government. 

"  5th.  The  slave  states  have  already  gone  through  the  chief  suffering  in- 
cident to  a  state  of  revolution  ;  and  to  return  them  to  their  former  condition 
would  be  as  impolitic  as  it  would  be  cruel  and  impossible. 

u6th.  The  system  of  labor  in  the  South  is  ripe  for  and  demands  a  change; 
and  a  transition  from  forced  to  paid  labor  is  of  easy  and  necessary  accom- 
plishment. 

"  7th.  Military  art  and  science,  the  most  potent,  and  perhaps  the  only 
rudimentary  element  of  civilizing  power  which  has  not  yet  been  taught  to 
the  African  during  his  bondage  in  America,  is  essential  for  extending  the 
colony  of  Liberia,  and  opening  up  to  civilization  the  cane  and  cotton  lands 
of  Africa. 

"  Inclosing  herewith  a  report  of  Major  Peck,  which  discloses  the  condi- 
tion of  things  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Pontchartrain,  I  have  the  honor  to  re- 
main, with  sentiments  of  high  esteem, 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

U.T.  "W.  Phelps,  Brigadier- General." 

Here  the  correspondence  rested  for  a  month ;  when  another  col- 
lision occurred  between  the  generals.  Three  slaves  from  the  Xew 
Orleans  gas  works  ran  away  and  found  refuge  at  Camp  Parapet. 
Colonel  French  ordered  them  to  be  returned.  General  Phelps  ob- 
jected on  two  grounds;  1.  An  article  of  war  forbade  the  return  of 
fugitive  slaves ;  2.  The  men  had  been  inhumanly  punished.  Gen- 
eral Butler,  however,  peremptorily  ordered  them  to  be  given  up. 
"  They  belong,"  said  he,  "  to  the  gas-works,  which  are  now  under 


514  GENERAL   BUTLER   AND   GENERAL  PHELPS. 


military  authority,  and  we  need  them  for  public  service.  A  proper 
investigation,  whether  they  have  been  improperly  or  inhumanly  pun- 
ished or  not,  shall  be  made." 

The  resignation  of  General  Phelps  was  accepted  by  the  govern- 
ment. He  received  notification  of  the  fact  on  the  8th  of  Septem- 
ber, and  immediately  prepared  to  return  to  his  farm  in  Vermont, 
All  of  his  command  loved  him,  from  the  drummer-boys  to  the 
colonels,  whether  they  approved  or  disapproved  his  course  on  the 
negro  question.  He  was  such  a  commander  as  soldiers  love ; 
firm,  gentle,  courteous ;  gentlest  and  most  courteous  to  the  low- 
liest ;  with  a  vein  of  quaint  humor  that  relieved  the  severity  of 
military  rule,  and  supplied  the  camp-gossips  with  anecdotes.  His 
officers  gathered  about  him,  before  his  departure,  to  say  farewell. 
He  was  touched  with  the  compliment,  for  he  had  been  accustomed, 
for  twenty  years,  to  live  among  his  comrades  in  a  lonely  minority 
of  one ;  respected,  it  is  true,  and  beloved,  but  beloved  rather  as  a 
noble  lunatic  than  as  a  wise  and  noble  man. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  in  his  fine,  simple  manner,  "  I  wish,  earn- 
estly, that  I  were  able  to  reply  to  you — that  I  had  been  gifted 
with  the  faculty  or  practiced  in  the  habit  of  public  speaking — so 
that  I  might  make  some  fitting  answer  to  the  kind  words  which 
you  have  addressed  to  me ;  so  that  I  might  express  my  gratitude 
for  the  feelings  which  prompt  you  to  come  here.  This  is  the 
greatest  compliment  I  ever  received  in  my  life.  Indeed,  this  is 
the  only  compliment  of  the  kind  I  ever  received.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Lall  traced  out  to  you,  in  more  flattering  colors  than  the 
subject  deserved,  my  military  career,  and  you  observed  that  it  has 
almost  all  been  on  the  frontier,  or  at  small  military  posts,  where  I 
would  naturally  not  come  in  contact  with  large  social  gatherings, 
so  that  I  have  never  been  exposed,  even  had  I  deserved  it,  to  re- 
ceive compliments  like  this  which  you  offer  me.  Therefore  it  is 
that  I  now  wish,  for  the  first  time,  that  I  possessed  the  gift  of 
utterance ;  and  I  assure  you  that  I  desire  it  solely  because  I  am 
extremely  grateful  for  this  expression  of  your  regard. 

"  So  far  as  the  motives  which  prompted  me  to  the  step  which  I  have 
taken  are  concerned,  I  do  not  see  any  reason  to  regret  it.  My  heart 
tells  me  that,  under  the  circumstances,  I  did  right  in  resigning  my 
commission.  But  I  do  regret  exceedingly  that  its  first  consequence 
will  be  to  separate  me  from  your  society.     I  am  truly  sorry  to  part 


GENERAL   BUTLER   AND   GENERAL  PHELPS.  515 

with  you.  I  was  greatly  struck — I  was  most  favorably  impressed — 
with  your  appearance,  and  bearing,  and  expression,  when  you  arrived 
to  re-enforce  me  at  Ship  Island.  I  was  touched  when  I  thought  I  saw 
in  your  looks  that  you  felt  your  true  position  ;  that  you  realized  that 
you  had  left  your  business  and  homes  to  fight  ift  an  extraordinarily 
just  and  holy  war ;  that  your  souls  were  full  of  the  motives  which 
ought  to  move  men  who  enter  into  a  conflict  for  country  and 
liberty.  As  I  watched  our  division  review  there,  I  was  more  than 
ever  impressed  with  this  appearance  of  moral  nobleness.  I  had 
seen  armies  before,  but  never  such  an  army  as  that ;  never  an  army 
which  knew  it  had  come  out  to  fight  for  the  highest  principles  of 
right,  for  the  good  of  humanity,  and  for  nothing  else. 

"  And  here,  in  Louisiana,  I  have  seen  you  growing  up  to  be  true 
soldiers.  You  have  borne,  worthily,  sickness  and  exposure.  You 
have  carried  your  comrades  every  day  to  the  grave,  and  yet  you 
have  not  been  discouraged,  but  have  been  patient,  and  cheerful, 
and  assiduous  in  your  duties.  As  I  have  watched  this,  I  have 
learned  to  value  and  esteem  you ;  and,  therefore,  I  am  all  the  more 
grateful  for  the  good-will  which  you  show  me. 

"Yet,  I  must  not  believe  that  this  kind  feeling  has  been  aroused 
solely  by  what  I  am  personally.  It  must  come  chiefly  from  the 
fact  that  you  look  upon  me  as  in  some  measure  the  exponent  of  a 
great  and  just  cause.  It  is  because  you  sympathize  more  or 
less  with  me  in  my  hatred  of  slavery.  Perhaps  some  of  you  are 
not  yet  of  my  opinion.  Perhaps  the  past  has  still  a  strong  hold 
upon  your  sentiments.  But  I  firmly  believe — yes,  I  have  a  happy 
confidence — that,  before  another  year  is  finished,  your  hearts  will 
all  be  where  mine  is  on  this  question.  And  let  me  tell  you  that 
this  faith  is  no  small  consolation  for  the  trial  of  leaving  you. 

"And  now,  with  earnest  wishes  for  your  welfare,  and  aspira- 
tions for  the  success  of  the  great  cause  for  which  you  are  here,  I 
bid  you  good-by." 

When,  at  length,  the  government  had  arrived  at  a  negro  policy, 
and  was  arming  slaves,  the  president  offered  General  Phelps  a 
major-general's  commission.  He  replied,  it  is  said,  that  he  would 
willingly  accept  the  commission  if  it  were  dated  back  to  the  day 
of  his  resignation,  so  as  to  carry  with  it  an  approval  of  his  course 
at  Camp  Parapet.  This  was  declined,  and  General  Phelps  remains 
in  retirement.  I  suppose  the  president  felt  that  an  indorsement  of 
22* 


5]  6  GENERAL   BUTLER   AND  THE   NEGROES. 

General  Phelps's  conduct  would  imply-  a  censure  of  General  Butler, 
whose  conduct  every  candid  person,  I  think,  must  admit,  was  just, 
forbearing,  magnanimous. 

We  can  not  but  regret  that  General  Phelps  could  not  have  sym- 
pathized in  some  degree  with  the  painful  necessities  of  General 
Butler's  position,  and  endeavored  for  a  while  to  "  get  along"  with 
the  negro  difficulty  at  Camp  Parapet,  as  General  Butler  was 
striving  to  do  at  New  Orleans.  We  should  remember,  however, 
that  General  Phelps  had  been  waiting  and  longing  for  twenty-five 
years,  and  he  could  not  foresee  that,  in  six  months  more,  the  gov- 
ernment would  be  as  eager  as  himself  in  arming  the  slaves  against 
their  oppressors. 


CHAPTER  XXVin. 


GENERAL     BUTLER    ARMS    THE      FREE     COLORED    MEN,     AND    FINDS 
WORK   FOR   THE   FUGITIVE   SLAVES. 

General  Phelps  might  have  seen  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day, 
even  before  his  departure.  General  Butler  himself  could  wait  no 
longer  for  the  tardy  action  of  the  government.  Denied  re-enforce- 
ments from  the  North,  he  had  determined  to  "  call  on  Africa"  to 
assist  him  in  defending  New  Orleans  from  threatened  attack.  The 
spirited  assault  upon  Baton  Rouge  on  the  fifth  of  August,  though 
it  was  so  gallantly  repulsed  by  General  Williams  and  his  command, 
was  a  warning  not  to  be  disregarded.  All  the  summer,  General 
Butler  had  been  asking  for  re-enforcements,  pointing  to  the  growing 
strength  of  Yicksburg,  the  rising  batteries  at  the  new  rebel  post 
of  Port  Hudson,  the  inviting  condition  of  Mobile,  the  menacing 
camps  near  New  Orleans,  the  virulence  of  the  secessionists  in  the 
city.  The  uniform  answer  from  the  war  department  was :  We  can 
not  spare  you  one  man  ;  we  will  send  you  men  when  we  have  them 
to  send.  You  must  hold  New  Orleans  by  all  means  and  at  all 
hazards. 

So  the  general   called  on  Africa.     Not  upon    the   slaves,  but 


GENERAL    BTTTLEU    AND   THE    NEGROES.  51 7 

upon  the  free  colored  men  of  the  city,  whom  General  Jackson  had 
enrolled  in  1814,  and  Governor  Moore  in  1861.  He  sent  for  sev- 
eral of  the  most  influential  of  this  class,  and  conversed  freely  with 
them  upon  his  project.  He  asked  them  why  they  had  accepted 
service  under  the  Confederate  government,  which  was  set  up  for 
the  distinctly  avowed  purpose  of  holding  in  eternal  slavery  their 
brethren  and  kindred.  They  answered,  that  they  had  not  dared  to 
refuse ;  that  they  had  hoped,  by  serving  the  Confederates,  to  ad- 
vance a  little  nearer  to  equality  with  whites ;  that  they  longed  to 
throw  the  weight  of  their  class  into  the  scale  of  the  Union,  and  only 
asked  an  opportunity  to  show  their  devotion  to  the  cause  with 
which  their  own  dearest  hopes  were  identified.  The  general  took 
them  at  their  word.  The  proper  orders  were  issued.  Enlistment 
offices  were  opened.  Colored  men  were  commissioned.  Of  the 
first  colored  regiment,  all  the  field  officers  were  white  men,  and  all 
the  line  officers  colored.  Of  the  second,  the  colonel  and  lieutenant- 
colonel  alone  were  white  men,  and  all  the  rest  colored.  For  the 
third,  the  officers  were  selected  without  the  slightest  regard  to 
color ;  the  best  men  that  offered  were  taken,  white  or  yellow.  The 
two  batteries  of  artillery  were  officered  wholly  by  white  men,  for 
the  simple  reason  that  no  colored  men  acquainted  with  artillery 
presented  themselves  as  candidates  for  the  commissions. 

The  free  colored  men  of  New  Orleans  flew  to  arms.  One  of  the 
regiments  of  a  thousand  men  was  completed  in  fourteen  days.  In 
a  very  few  weeks,  General  Butler  had  his  three  regiments  of  in- 
fantry and  two  batteries  of  artillery  enrolled,  equipped,  officered, 
drilled,  and  ready  for  service.  Better  soldiers  never  shouldered 
arms.  They  were  zealous,  attentive,  obedient,  and  intelligent.  No 
men  in  the  Union  army  had  such  a  stake  in  the  contest  as  they. 
Few  understood  it  as  well  as  they.  The  best  blood  of  the  South 
Cowed  in  their  veins,  and  a  great  deal  of  it ;  for  "  the  darkest  of 
them,"  said  General  Butler,  "  were  about  of  the  complexion  of  the 
late  Mr.  Webster."  At  Port  Hudson,  in  the  summer  of  1863,  these 
fine  regiments,  though  shamefully  despoiled  of  the  colored  officers 
to  whom  General  Butler  gave  commissions,  demonstrated  to  thx± 
whole  army  that  witnessed  their  exploits,  and  to  the  whole  country 
that  read  of  them,  their  right  to  rank  with  the  soldiers  of  the  Union 
as  brothers  in  arms. 

This  bold  measure  of  General  Butler — bold  a  year  ago — was  not 


518  GENERAL   BUTLER   AND   THE   NEGROES. 

achieved  without  opposition.  Public  opinion,  in  New  Orleans,  was 
thus  divided  in  regard  to  arming  the  free  colored  men :  nearly 
every  Union  man  in  the  city  favored  it ;  every  secessionist  opposed 
it.  Many  of  the  Union  officers  had  not  yet  traveled  far  enough 
away  from  old  hunkerism  to  approve  the  measure,  but  a  large 
minority  of  them  warmly  seconded  their  general.  There  was  but 
one  breach  of  the  peace  in  the  city  in  connection  with  the  colored 
troops.  A  party  of  them  were  stoned  by  some  low  Frenchmen, 
who,  it  appears,  received,  at  the  hands  of  the  assailed  soldiers, 
prompt  and  condign  punishment.  Need  I  say,  that  the  French 
consul  complained  to  General  Butler  ?  The  general  set  the  consul 
right  as  to  the  facts  of  the  case,  and,  at  the  same  time,  asked  him 
"  to  warn  his  countrymen  against  the  prejudices  they  may  have  im- 
bibed, the  same  as  were  lately  mine,  against  my  colored  soldiers, 
because  their  race  is  of  the  same  hue  and  blood  as  those  of  your 
celebrated  compatriot  and  author,  Alexander  Dumas,  who,  I  be- 
lieve, is  treated  with  the  utmost  respect  in  Paris."  In  fact,  a  ma- 
jority of  these  colored  soldiers  are  whiter  men  than  Dumas. 

In  November,  the  colored  regiments  were  employed  in  the  field, 
in  an  expedition  upon  the  western  bank  of  the  river.  They  were 
not  engaged  in  actual  conflict  with  the  enemy,  but  their  conduct, 
on  all  occasions,  was  most  exemplary  and  soldier-like.  Their  pres- 
ence in  a  region  where  there  were  ten  slaves  to  one  white  man,  was 
thought  by  General  Weitzel  to  tend  to  provoke  an  insurrection. 
He  was  in  so  much  dread  of  such  an  event,  that  he  asked  General 
Butler  to  relieve  him  of  the  command.  The  general  replied  in  Iris 
usual  exhaustive  manner. 

"You  say,"  wrote  General  Butler,  "that  in  these  organizations 
you  have  no  confidence.  As  your  reading  must  have  made  you 
aware,  General  Jackson  entertained  a  different  .opinion  upon  that 
subject.  It  was  arranged  between  the  commanding  general  and 
yourself,  that  the  colored  regiments  should  be  employed  in  guard- 
ing the  railroad.  You  don't  complain,  in  your  report,  that  they 
either  failed  in  this  duty,  or  that  they  have  acted  otherwise  than 
correctly  and  obediently  to  the  commands  of  their  officers,  or  that 
they  have  committed  any  outrage  or  pillage  upon  the  inhabitants. 
The  general  was  aware  of  your  opinion,  that  colored  men  will  not 
fight.  You  have  failed  to  show,  by  the  conduct  of  these  free  men, 
so  far,  anything  to  sustain  that  opinion.     And  the  general  can  not 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  NEGROES.  519 

see  why  you  should  decline  the  command,  especially  as  you  express 
a  willingness  to  go  forward  to  meet  the  only  organized  enemy  with 
your  brigade  alone,  without  farther  support.  The  commanding 
general  can  not  see  how  the  fact  that  they  are  guarding  your  line 
of  communication  by  railroad,  can  weaken  your  defense.  He  must, 
therefore,  look  to  the  other  reasons  stated  by  you,  for  an  explana- 
tion of  your  declining  the  command. 

"You  say  that  since  the  arrival  of  the  negro  regiment  you  have 
seen  symptoms  of  a  servile  insurrection.  But,  as  the  only  regiment 
that  arrived  there  got  there  as  soon  as  your  own  command,  of 
course  the  appearance  of  such  symptoms  is  since  their  arrival. 

"Have  you  not  mistaken  the  cause  ?  Is  it  the  arrival  of  a  negro 
regiment,  or  is  it  the  arrival  of  United  States  troops,  carrying  by  the 
act  of  congress  freedom  to  this  servile  race  ?  Did  you  expect  to 
march  into  that  country,  drained,  as  you  say  it  is,  by  conscription 
of  all  its  able-bodied  white  men,  without  leaving  the  negroes  free 
to  show  symptoms  of  servile  insurrection  ?  Does  not  this  state  of 
things  arise  from  the  very  fact  of  war  itself?  You  are  in  a  country 
where  now  the  negroes  outnumber  the  whites  ten  to  one,  and  these 
whites  are  in  rebellion  against  the  government,  or  in  terror  seeking 
its  protection.  Upon  reflection,  can  you  doubt  that  the  same  state 
of  things  would  have  arisen  without  the  presence  of  a  colored  regi- 
ment ?  Did  you  not  see  symptoms  of  the  same  things  upon  the 
plantations  here  upon  our  arrival,  although  under  much  less  favora- 
ble circumstances  for  revolt  ? 

"  You  say  that  the  prospect  of  such  an  insurrection  is  heart-rend- 
ing, and  that  you  can  not  be  responsible  for  it.  The  responsibility 
rests  upon  those  who  have  begun  and  carried  out  this  war,  and  who 
have  stopped  at  no  barbarity,  at  no  act  of  outrage,  upon  the  citi- 
zens and  soldiers  of  the  United  States.  You  have  forwarded  me  the 
records  of  a  pretended  court-martial,  showing  that  seven  men  of 
one  of  your  regiments,  who  enlisted  here  in  the  Eighth  Vermont, 
who  had  surrendered  themselves  prisoners  of  war,  were  in  cold 
blood  murdered,  and,  as  certain  information  shows  me,  required  to 
dig  their  own  graves !  You  are  asked  if  this  is  not  an  occurrence 
as  heart-rending  as  a  prospective  servile  insurrection. 

"  The  question  is  now  to  be  met,  whether,  in  a  hostile,  rebellious 
part  of  the  state,  where  this  very  murder  has  been  committed  by 
the  militia,  you  are  to  stop  in  the  operations;  of  the  field  to  put 


520  GENERAL   BUTLER   AND   THE   NEGROES. 

down  servile  insurrection,  because  the  men  and  women  are  terror- 
stricken  ?  When  ever  was  it  heard  before  that  a  victorious  general, 
in  an  unsurrendered  province,  stopped  in  his  course  for  the  purpose 
of  preventing  the  rebellious  inhabitants  of  that  province  from  de- 
stroying each  other,  or  refuse  to  take  command  of  a  conquered 
province  lest  he  should  be  made  responsible  for  their  self-destruc- 
tion? 

"  As  a  military  question,  perhaps,  the  more  terror-stricken  the 
inhabitants  are  that  are  left  in  your  rear,  the  more  safe  will  be  your 
lines  of  communication.  You  say  there  have  appeared  before  your 
eyes  the  very  facts,  in  terror-stricken  women  and  children  and  men, 
which  you  had  before  contemplated  in  theory.  Grant  it.  But  is 
not  the  remedy  to  be  found  in  the  surrender  of  the  neighbors, 
fathers,  brothers,  and  sons  of  the  terror-stricken  women  and  chil- 
dren, who  are  now  in  arms  against  the  government  within  twenty 
miles  of  you  ?  And  when  that  is  done,  and  you  have  no  longer  to 
fear  from  these  organized  forces,  and  they  have  returned  peaceably  to 
their  homes,  you  will  be  able  to  use  the  full  power  of  your  troops 
to  insure  your  safety  from  the  so  much  feared  (by  them,  not  by  you) 
servile  insurrection. 

"  If  you  desire,  you  can  send  a  flag  of  truce  to  the  commander 
of  these  forces,  embracing  these  views,  and  placing  upon  him  the 
responsibility  which  belongs  to  him.  Even  that  course  will  not 
remove  it  from  you,  for  upon  you  it  has  never  rested.  Say  to  them, 
that  if  all  armed  opposition  to  the  authority  of  the  United  States 
shall  cease  in  Louisiana,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  you  are 
authorized  by  the  commanding  general  to  say,  that  the  same  pro- 
tection against  negro  or  other  violence  will  be  afforded  that  part  of 
Louisiana  that  has  been  in  the  part  already  in  the  possession  of  the 
United  States.  If  that  is  refused,  whatever  may  ensue  is  upon 
them,  and  not  upon  you  or  upon  the  United  States.  You  will  have 
done  all  that  is  required  of  a  brave,  humane  man,  to  avert  from 
these  deluded  people  the  horrible  consequences  of  their  insane  war 
upon  the  government.  *  *  *  *■ 

"  Consider  this  case.  General  Bragg  is  at  liberty  to  ravage  the 
houses  of  our  brethren  of  Kentucky  because  the  Union  army  of 
Louisiana  are  protecting  his  wife  and  his  home  against  his  negroes. 
Without  that  protection  he  would  have  to  come  back  to  take  care 
of  his  wife,  his  home  and  his  negroes.     It  is  understood  that  Mrs. 


GENERAL    BUTUER   AND   THE   NEGROES.  521 

Bragg  is  one  of  the  terrified  women  of  whom  you  speak  in  your 
report. 

"  This  subject  is  not  for  the  first  time  under  the  consideration  of 
the  commanding  general.  When  in  command  of  the  Department 
of  Annapolis,  in  May,  1861,  he  was  asked  to  protect  a  community 
against  the  consequences  of  a  servile  insurrection.  He  replied,  that 
when  that  community  laid  down  its  arms,  and  called  upon  him  for 
protection,  he  would  give  it,  because  from  that  moment  between 
them  and  him  war  would  cease.  The  same  principle  initiated  there 
will  govern  his  and  your  actions  now ;  and  you  will  afford  such 
protection  as  soon  as  the  community  through  its  organized  rulers 
shall  ask  it. 

"  *  *  *  *  In  the  mean  time,  these  colored  regiments  of  free  men, 
raised  by  the  authority  of  the  president,  and  approved  by  him  as 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  must  be  commanded  by  the 
officers  of  the  army  of  the  United  States,  like  any  other  regi- 
ment," 

General  Bntler,  however,  while  continuing  General  Weitzel  in 
command,  contrived  to  gratify  him  by  placing  the  colored  troops 
under  another  officer,  one  who  believed  in  them.  General  Weitzel, 
in  acknowledging  this  complaisance,  remarked  that  if  the  colored 
troops,  in  action,  proved  only  half  as  trustworthy  as  General  But- 
ler thought  them,  the  rebellion  would  most  certainly  be  crushed. 

General  Weitzel  has  since  had  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  the 
conduct  of  colored  troops  in  battle.  If  he  was  not  convinced  by 
General  Butler's  reasoning,  he  must  have  been  convinced  by  what 
he  saw  of  the  conduct  of  these  very  colored  regiments  at  Port 
Hudson,  where  he  himself  gave  such  a  glorious  example  of  pru- 
dence and  gallantry.  I  may  add,  that  the  country  owes  the  pro- 
motion of  this  accomplished  officer  from  the  rank  of  lieutenant  of 
engineers  to  (hat  of  brigadier-general  of  volunteers,  to  the  discern- 
ment of  General  Butler,  wTho  twice  urged  it  upon  the  war  depart- 
ment. The  heroic  Strong  was  another  of  General  Butler's  recom- 
mendations to  the  same  rank.  Few  men  would  have  ventured  to 
ask  such  sudden  advancement  for  officers  not  thirty-two  years  of 
age.  Fort  Wagner  and  Port  Hudson  justified  their  almost  un- 
precedented promotion. 

As  the  season  advanced,  the  negro  question  did  not  diminish  in 
difficulty.     The  number  of  fugitives  constantly  increased,  until,  in 


522  GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  NEGROES. 

the  city  alone,  there  were  ten  thousand,  many  of  whom  were 
women  and  children,  and  all  of  whom  were  dependent  upon  the 
government  for  support.  There  were  great  numbers  at  Fort 
Jackson,  Fort  St.  Philip  and  Camp  Parapet.  Many  plantations 
had  been  abandoned  by  their  owners,  and  the  negroes  remained  in 
their  huts  idle  and  destitute.  The  conquests  of  General  Weitzel 
greatly  added  to  the  number  of  abandoned  and  confiscated  planta- 
tions, and  set  free  thousands  of  slaves.  From  the  starving  country 
bordering  on  the  lakes  whole  families  of  whites  were  continually 
coming  to  the  city,  sometimes  bringing  their  slaves  with  them, 
sometimes  leaving  them  behind  to  wander  off  to  the  nearest  post. 
Society,  as  General  Phelps  had  remarked,  seemed  on  the  point  of 
dissolution,  and  General  Butler  saw  before  him  a  prospect  of 
having  a  countless  host  of  white  and  black  looking  to  him  for  daily 
bread. 

He  determined,  in  October,  to  take  the  responsibility  of  working 
the  abandoned  plantations  on  behalf  of  the  United  States,  their 
rightful  owner,  and  of  employing  upon  them  his  fugitive  and 
emancipated  slaves  at  fair  wages.  The  first  .of  his  special  orders 
relating  to  this  matter  has  an  historical  interest  and  value  : 

"New  Obleans,  October  20,  1862. 
"  Special  Order,  No.  441. 

"  It  appearing  to  the  commanding  general,  that  the  sugar  plantations  of 
Brown  and  McMannus  have  been  abandoned  by  their  late  owners,  who  are 
in  the  rebellion,  are  now  running  to  waste,  and  the  valuable  crops  will  be 
lost,  as  well  to  the  late  owners  as  to  the  United  States,  if  they  are  not 
wrought ;  and  as  large  numbers  of  negroes  have  come  and  are  coming 
within  the  lines  of  the  army,  who  need  employment,  it  is  ordered : 

"  That  Charles  A.  Weed,  Esq.,  take  charge  of  such  plantations,  and  such 
others  as  may  be  abandoned  along  the  river,  between  the  city  and  Fort  Jack- 
son, and  gather  and  make  these  crops  for  the  benefit  of  the  United  States, 
keeping  an  exact  and  accurate  account  of  the  expenses  of  such. 

"  That  Mr.  Weed's  requisition  for  labor  be  answered  by  the  several  com- 
manders of  camps  for  labor;  or,  in  the  scarcity  of  contrabands,  that  Mr.  Weed 
may  employ  white  laborers  at  one  dollar  each  per  day,  or  each  ten  hours' 
labor. 

"  That  for  any  stores  or  necessaries  for  such  work,  the  quartermaster's  or 
commissary's  department  will  answer  Mr.  Weed's  approved  requisitions. 

"  That  said  Weed  shall  be  paid  such  rate  of  compensation  as  may  be 
agreed  on ;  and  that  all  receipts  of  whatever  nature  from  such  plantations, 


GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  NEGROES.  523 

be  accurately  accounted  for  by  bim ;  and  tbat  for  tbis  purpose  Mr.  Weed 
sball  be  considered  in  the  military  service  of  the  United  States. 

u  By  command  of  Major-General  Butleb. 
u  Geobge  0.  Steong,  A.  A.  #." 

But  this  was  not  all.  Among  the  papers  relating  to  the. negroes 
of  Louisiana,  there  is  a  document  still  more  interesting.  It  con- 
tains the  plan  devised  by  the  commanding  general  for  enabling 
the  loyal  planters  to  give  a  trial  to  the  system  of  free  labor  : 

"New  Oeleans,  La.,  October  18,  1862. 

"  Memorandum  of  an  agreement,  entered  into  between  the  planters,  loyal 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  in  the  parishes  of  *  St.  Bernard'  and  'Plaque- 
mines,' in  the  state  of  Louisiana,  and  the  civil  and  military  authorities  of  the 
United  States  in  said  state. 

"  Whereas,  many  of  the  persons  held  to  service  and  labor  have  left  their 
masters  and  claimants,  and  have  come  to  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  and  to  the 
camps  of  the  army  of  the  gulf,  and  are  claiming  to  be  emancipated  and  free; 

"  And  whereas,  these  men  and  women  are  in  a  destitute  condition ; 

"  And  whereas,  it  is  clearly  the  duty,  by  law,  as  well  as  in  humanity,  of 
the  United  States  to  provide  them  with  food  and  clothing,  and  to  employ 
them  in  some  useful  occupation  ; 

u  And  whereas,  it  is  necessary  that  the  crop  of  cane  and  cereals  now 
growing  and  approaching  maturity  in  said  parishes  shall  be  preserved,  and 
the  levees  repaired  and  strengthened  against  floods  ; 

"  And  whereas,  the  planters  claim  that  these  persons  are  still  held  to  ser- 
vice and  labor,  and  of  right  ought  to  labor  for  their  masters,  and  that  the 
ruin  of  their  crops  and  plantations  will  happen  if  deprived  of  such  services ; 

"  And  whereas,  these  conflicting  rights  and  claims  can  not  immediately 
be  determined  by  any  tribunals  now  existing  in  the  state  of  Louisiana : 

"  In  order,  therefore,  to  preserve  the  rights  of  all  parties,  as  well  those 
of  the  planters  as  of  the  persons  claimed  as  held  to  service  and  labor,  and 
claiming  their  freedom,  and  those  of  the  United  States ;  and  to  preserve  the 
orops  and  property  of  loyal  citizens  of  the  United  States ;  and  to  provide 
profitable  employment  at  the  rate  of  compensation  fixed  by  act  of  congress 
for  those  persons  who  have  come  within  the  lines  of  the  army  of  the  United 
States, 

"  It  is  agreed  and  determined,  that  the  United  States  will  employ  all  the 
persons  heretofore  held  to  labor  on  the  several  plantations  in  the  parishes 
of  St.  Bernard  and  Plaquemines  belonging  to  loyal  citizens  as  they  have 
heretofore  been  employed,  and  as  nearly  as  may  be  under  the  charge  of  the 
loyal  planters  and  overseers  of  said  parishes  and  other  necessary  direction. 
"  The  United  States  will  authorize  or  provide  suitable  guards  and  patrols 
to  preserve  order  and  prevent  crime  in  the  said  parishes. 


524  GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  THE  NEGROES. 

"  The  planters  shall  pay  for  the  services  of  each  able-bodied  male  person 
ten  (10)  dollars  per  month,  three  (3)  of  which  may  be  expended  for  neces- 
sary clothing ;  and  for  each  woman  ( — )  dollars  ;  and  for  each  child 

above  the  age  often  (10)  years,  and  under  the  age  of  sixteen  (16)  years,  the 

sum  of  ( — )  dollars ;  all  the  persons  above  the  age  of  sixteen  years 

being  considered  as  men  and  women  for  the  purpose  of  labor. 

"  Planters  shall  furnish  suitable  and  proper  food  for  each  of  these  labor- 
ers, and  take  care  of  them,  and  furnish  proper  medicines  in  case  of  sick- 
ness. 

"  The  planters  shall  also  suitably  provide  for  all  the  persons  incapacitated 
by  sickness  or  age  from  labor,  bearing  the  relation  of  parent,  child  or  wife, 
of  the  laborer  so  laboring  for  him. 

"  Ten  hours  a  day  shall  be  a  day's  labor ;  and  any  extra  hours  during 
which  the  laborer  may  be  called  by  the  necessities  of  the  occasion  to  work, 
shall  be  returned  as  so  much  toward  another  day's  labor.  Twenty-six 
days,  of  ten  hours  each,  shall  make  a  month's  labor.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  overseer  to  keep  a  true  and  exact  account  of  the  time  of  labor  of  each 
person,  and  any  wrong  or  inaccuracy  therein,  shall  forfeit  a  month's  pay  to 
the  person  so  wronged. 

"  No  cruel  or  corporal  punishment  shall  be  inflicted  by  any  one  upon  the 
person  so  laboring,  or  upon  his  or  her  relatives ;  but  any  insubordination  or 
refusal  to  perform  suitable  labor,  or  other  crime  or  offense,  shall  be  at  once 
reported  to  the  provost-marshal  for  the  district,  and  punishment  suitable 
for  the  offense  shall  be  inflicted  under  his  orders,  preferably  imprisonment 
in  darkness  on  bread  and  water. 

"  This  agreement  to  continue  at  the  pleasure  of  the  United  States. 

u  If  any  planter  of  the  parishes  of  St.  Bernard  or  Plaquemines  refuses  to 
enter  into  this  agreement  or  remains  a  disloyal  citizen,  the  persons  claimed 
to  be  held  to  service  by  him  may  hire  themselves  to  any  loyal  planter,  or 
the  United  States  may  elect  to  carry  on  his  plantation  by  their  own  agents, 
and  other  persons  than  those  thus  claimed  may  be  hired  by  any  planter  at 
his  election. 

u  It  is  expressly  understood  and  agreed  that  this  arrangement  shall  not 
be  held  to  affect,  after  its  termination,  the  legal  rights  of  either  master  or 
slave ;  but  that  the  question  of  freedom  or  slavery  is  to  be  determined  by 
considerations  wholly  outside  of  the  provisions  of  this  contract,  provided 
always,  that  the  abuse  by  any  master  or  overseer  of  any  persons  laboring 
under  the  provisions  of  this  contract,  shall,  after  trial  and  adjudication  by 
the  military  or  other  courts,  emancipate  the  person  so  abused." 

And,  now,  what  were  the  results  of  the  experiment  ?  We  have 
explicit  information  on  this  point. 

Among  those  who  heard  of  the  startling  innovation,  none  list- 


GENERAL    BUTLER    AND   THE   NEGROES.  525 

ened  to  the  tale  with  deeper  interest  than  the  president  of  the 
United  States.  Mr.  Chase  read  to  him  one  of  General  Butler's 
private  letters  upon  the  subject,  and  the  president  then  wrote  a 
note  to  the  general,  asking  detailed  information.  The  president 
was  also  curious  to  know  something  respecting  the  election  of 
members  of  congress  in  Louisiana,  then  about  to  take  place. 
General  Butler  replied  in  a  letter,  which  the  citizens  of  free 
Louisiana  will  consider  historically  important : 

"Our  experiment,"  wrote  the  general,  November  28th,  1862, 
"  iu  attempting  the  cultivation  of  sugar  by  free  labor,  I  am  happy 
to  report,  is  succeeding  admirably.  I  am  informed  by  the  govern- 
ment agent  who  has  charge,  that  upon  one  of  the  plantations, 
where  sugar  is  being  made  by  the  negroes  who  had  escaped  there- 
from into  our  lines,  and  have  been  sent  back  under  wages,  that  with 
the  same  negroes  and  the  same  machinery,  by  free  labor,  a  hogshead 
and  a  half  more  of  sugar  has  been  made  in  a  day  than  was  ever 
before  made  in  the  same  time  on  the  plantation  under  slave  labor. 

"  Your  friend,  Colonel  Shaffer,  has  had  put  up,  to  be  forwarded 
to  you,  a  barrel  of  the  first  sugar  ever  made  by  free  black  labor  in 
Louisiana  ;  and  the  fact  that  it  will  have  no  flavor  of  the  degrading 
whip,  will  not,  I  know,  render  it  less  sweet  to  your  taste.  The 
planters  seem  fcp  have  been  struck  with  a  sort  of  judicial  blindness, 
and  some  of  them  so  deluded  have  abandoned  their  crops  rather 
than  work  them  with  free  labor.  I  offered  them,  as  a  basis,  a  con- 
tract, a  copy  of  which  is  inclosed  for  your  information.  It  was  re- 
jected by  many  of  them,  because  they  would  not  relinquish  the 
right  to  use  the  whip,  although  I  have  provided  a  punishment  for 
the  refractory,  by  means  of  the  provost-marshal,  as  you  will  see — 
imprisonment  in  darkness,  on  bread  and  water.  I  did  not  feel  that 
I  had  a  right,  by  the  military  power  of  the  United  States,  to  send 
back  to  be  scourged,  at  the  will  of  their  former  and,  in  some  cases, 
infuriated  masters,  those  black  men  who  had  fled  to  me  for  protec- 
tion ;  while  I  had  no  doubt  of  my  right  to  employ  them  under  the 
charge  of  whomsoever  I  might  choose,  to  work  for  the  benefit  of 
themselves  and  the  government.  I  have,  therefore,  caused  the 
negroes  to  be  informed  that  they  should  have  the  same  rights  as  to 
freedom,  if  so  the  law  was,  on  the  plantation  as  if  they  were  in 
camp  ;  and  they  have,  in  a  great  majority  of  instances,  gone  will- 
ing5 y  to  work,  and  work  with  a  will.     They  wore,  at  first,  a  little 


526  GENERAL   BUTLER    LUTD   THE    NEGROES. 

averse  to  going  back,  lest  they  should  lose  some  rights  which  would 
come  to  them  in  camp  ;  but,  upon  our  assurances,  are  quite  content. 

"  I  think  this  scheme  can  be  carried  out  without  loss  to  the  gov- 
ernment, and  I  hope  with  profit  enough  to  enable  us  to  support,  for 
six  months  longer,  the  starving  whites  and  blacks  here, — a  some- 
what herculean  task. 

"  We  are  feeding  now  daily,  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  more 
than  thirty-two  thousand  whites,  seventeen  thousand  of  whom  are 
British-born  subjects,  and  mostly  claiming  British  protection  ;  and 
only  about  two  thousand  of  whom  are  American  citizens,  the  rest 
being  of  the  several  nationalities  who  are  represented  here  from  all 
parts  of  the  globe. 

a  Besides  these,  we  have  some  ten  thousand  negroes  to  feed,  be- 
sides those  at  work  on  the  plantations,  principally  women  and  chil- 
dren. All  this  has,  thus  far,  been  done  without  any  draft  upon  the 
treasury,  although  how  much  longer  we  can  go  on,  is  a  problem  of 
which  I  am  not  anxiously  seeking  the  solution.  *  *  * 

"  The  operations  of  General  Weitzel,  in  the  Lafourche  country, 
the  richest  sugar  planting  part  of  Louisiana,  have  opened  to  us  a 
very  large  number  of  slaves,  all  of  whom,  under  the  act,  are  free ;  and 
large  crops  of  sugar,  as  well  those  already  made,  as  those  in  pro- 
cess of  being  made.  *  *  *  All  this  portion  of  the  country  are  rapidly 
returning  to  their  allegiance,  and  the  elections  are  being  organized 
for  Wednesday  next,  and  I  doubt  not  a  large  vote  will  be  thrown. 

"  I  bound  Dr.  Cotman  not  to  be  one  of  the  candidates  in  the  field. 
He  had  voluntarily  signed  the  ordinance  of  secession  as  one  of  the  con- 
vention which  passed  it,  and  had  sat  for  his  portrait  in  the  cartoon 
which  was  intended  to  render  those  signers  immortal,  and  which 
was  published  and  exhibited  here  in  imitation  of  the  picture  of  our 
signers  of  the  declaration  of  independence ;  and  as  the  doctor  had 
never,  by  any  public  act,  testified  his  abnegation  of  that  act  of  sign- 
ing, I  thought  it  would  be  best  that  the  government  should  not  be 
put  to  the  scandal  of  having  a  person  so  situated  elected,  although 
the  doctor  may  be  a  good  Union  man  now.  So  I  very  strongly 
advised  him  against  the  candidature.  It  looked  too  much  like 
Aaron  Burr's  attempt  to  run  for  a  seat  in  parliament,  after  he  went 
to  England  to  avoid  his  complication  in  the  Mexican  affairs  and 
his  combat  with  Hamilton.  It  is  but  fair  to  say  that  Doctor  Cot- 
man,  after  some  urging,  concluded  to  withdraw  bis  name  from  the 


GENERAL  BUTLER   AND   THE    NEGROES.  527 

canvass.  Two  unconditional  Union  men  will  be  elected.  I  fear 
however,  we  shall  lose  Mr.  Bouligny.  He  was  imprudent  enough 
to  run  for  the  office  of  justice  of  peace  under  the  secessionists,  and 
although  I  believe  him  always  to  have  been  a  good  Union  man, 
and  to  have  sought  that  office  for  personal  reasons  only,  yet  that 
fact  tells  against  him.  However,  Mr.  Flanders  will  be  elected  in 
his  district,  and  a  more  reliable  or  better  Union  man  can  not  be 
found. 

"  But  to  return  to  our  negroes.  I  find  this  difficulty  in  pros- 
pect :  Many  of  the  planters  here,  while  professing  loyalty,  and  I 
doubt  not  feeling  it,  if  the  *  institution'  can  be  spared  to  them,  have 
agreed  together  not  to  make  any  provision  this  autumn  for  another 
crop  of  sugar  next  season,  hoping  thereby  to  throw  upon  us  this 
winter  an  immense  number  of  blacks,  without  employment  and 
without  any  means  of  support  for  the  future ;  the  planters  them- 
selves living  upon  what  they  made  from  this  crop.  Thus,  no  pro- 
vision being  made  for  the  crop  either  of  corn,  potatoes  or  cereals,  the 
government  will  be  obliged  to  come  to  their  terms  for  the  future 
employment  of  the  negroes,  or  to  be  at  enormous  expenses  to  sup- 
port them. 

"  We  shall  have  to  meet  this  as  best  we  may.  Of  course,  we  are 
not  responsible  for  what  may  be  done  outside  of  our  lines,  but  here 
I  shall  make  what  provisions  I  can  for  the  future,  as  well  for  the 
cereal  and  root  crop  as  the  cane.  "We  shall  endeavor  to  get  a  stock 
of  cane  laid  down  on  all  the  plantations  worked  by  government, 
and  to  preserve  seed  corn  and  potatoes  to  meet  this  contingency. 

"  I  shall  send  out  my  third  regiment  of  Native  Guards  (colored), 
and  set  them  to  work  preserving  the  cane  and  roots  for  a  crop 
next  year. 

"  It  can  not  be  supposed  that  this  great  change  in  a  social  and 
political  system  can  be  made  without  a  shock  ;  and  I  am  only  sur- 
prised that  the  possibility  opens  up  to  me  that  it  can  be  made  at 
all.  Certain  it  is,  and  I  speak  the  almost  universal  sentiment  and 
opinion  of  my  officers,  that  slavery  is  doomed!  I  have  no  doubt 
of  it ;  and  with  every  prejudice  and  early  teaching  against  the  result 
to  which  my  mind  has  been  irresistibly  brought  by  my  experience 
here,  I  am  now  convinced : 

"  1st.  That  labor  can  be  done  in  this  state  by  whites,  and  more 
economically  than  by  blacks  and  slaves. 


528  GENERAL   BUTLER   AND   THE   NEGROES. 

"  2d.  That  black  labor  can  be  as  well  governed,  used,  and  made  as 
profitable  in  a  state  of  freedom  as  in  slavery. 

"  3d.  That  while  it  would  have  been  better  could  this  emancipa- 
tion of  the  slaves  be  gradual,  yet  it  is  quite  feasible  even  under 
this  great  change,  as  a  governmental  proposition,  to  organize,  con- 
trol and  work  the  negro  with  profit  and  safety  to  the  white ;  but 
this  can  be  best  done  under  military  supervision." 

"Slavery  is  doomed!"  So  says  General  Rosecrans,  also.  So 
says  the  reticent  and  modest  General  Grant.  So  says,  I  believe, 
every  officer  who  has  served  in  the  heart  of  a  slave  state.  We  shall 
see,  in  a  moment,  by  what  means  the  true  nature  of  slavery  was 
brought  home  to  the  mind  of  General  Butler,  so  that  he  not  only 
foresaw,  but  exulted  in  the  downfall  of  the  "  institution." 

The  perfect  behavior  of  the  black  men  in  their  new  character  of 
free  laborers  has  been  often  remarked.  A  whole  book  full  of  testi- 
mony on  this  point  could  be  adduced.  If  it  be  objected,  that  Gen- 
eral Butler  had  too  short  an  experience  of  his  system  to  be  able  to 
judge  its  results,  we  can  point  to  the  testimony  of  men  now  in 
Louisiana,  who  have  observed  the  working  of  the  free-labor  system 
for  more  than  a  year.  One  highly  intelligent  gentleman  has  recent- 
ly written  from  New  Orleans : 

"  No  one  has  properly  noticed  how  well  the  slaves  in  the  South 
have  maintained  their  difficult  position.  From  the  commencement 
up  to  this  time  they  have  in  no  instance  called  upon  their  heads  the 
indignation  of  their  masters  by  any  impudent  expression  or  untime- 
ly outbreak.  Whenever  our  forces  have  afforded  them  an  oppor- 
tunity to  break  their  bonds,  they  have  done  it  promptly  and  effi- 
ciently; but  they  have,  with  rare  prudence,  not  involved  themselves 
in  difficulties  which  would  be  fruitless  of  substantial  good  to  their 
interests.  This  conduct  on  their  part,  it  seems  to  me,  exhibits  a 
large  amount  of  intellectual  ability ;  for  they  have  had  the  intelli- 
gence, while  thoroughly  understanding  the  nature  of  the  revolution 
going  on  around  them,  of  heartily  sympathizing  with  the  enemy; 
yet  they  have  been  secretive  enough  to  keep  their  real  opinions  in 
their  own  hearts  until  the  proper  time  came  to  give  tl  m  utterance. 
I  know  of  no  people  who,  under  the  circumstances,  could  have 
acted  better  or  wiser."* 

*  New  York  Times,  October,  1863. 


GEMZKAL    BUTLER    AND    TUE   NEGROES.  529 

The  following  general  order,  which  explains  itself,  as  most  of 
General  Butler's  orders  do,  is  part  of  the  history  of  his  dealing 
with  the  negro  question  in  New  Orleans : 


"New  Okleans,  November  21,  1862. 

"  A  commission,  to  consist  of  Colonel  T.  W.  Cahill,  commanding  United 
States  forces  in  New  Orleans  and  Algiers ;  Colonel  H.  C.  Deming,  acting 
mayor  of  New  Orleans ;  E.  H.  Durell,  chairman  bureau  of  finance  of  New 
Orleans,  is  hereby  appointed  to  determine  the  amount  due  as  jail  expenses 
from  the  United  States,  on  account  of  negroes  already  released  from  the 
police  jail,  to  be  employed  by  the  government. 

"Hereafter,  no  negro  slave  will  be  confined  in  that  jail,  unless  such 
expenses  are  prepaid,  the  slave  to  be  released  when  the  money  is  ex- 
hausted. 

"  It  is  also  ordered,  that  a  list  of  the  reputed  owners  of  slaves  now  in  tli-j 
police  jail  be  published,  and  that  all  slaves  whose  jail  fees  are  not  paid  with- 
in ten  days  after  such  publication,  be  discharged.  This  is  the  course  taken 
in  all  countries  with  debtors  confined  by  creditors ;  and  slaves  have  not  such 
commercial  value  in  New  Orleans  as  to  justify  their  being  held  and  fed  by 
the  city,  relying  upon  any  supposed  lien  upon  the  slave." 


This  order  set  free  a  considerable  number  of  slaves  left  in  jail  for 
safe  keeping,  by  officers  serving  in  the  rebel  armies.  It  also  limited 
one  of  the  worst  abuses  of  the  system. 

The  president's  proclamation  of  freedom,  which  took  effect  Jan- 
uary 1st,  1863,  suggested  to  General  Butler's  fertile  genius  a  meas- 
ure which,  it  is  greatly  to  be  deplored,  he  had  not  time  to  carry 
out  before  his  sudden  recall.  The  proclamation,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, exempted  from  emancipation  certain  parishes  of  Louisiana, 
which  were  already  in  the  possession  of  the  United  States.  It  was 
well  known  to  General  Butler  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  slaves 
in  those  parishes  belonged  to  foreign-born  "neutrals,"  whose  sym- 
pathy with  secession  had  given  him  so  much  trouble.  It  occurred 
to  him  to  inquire  whether,  by  French  law,  those  Frenchmen  could 
hold  slaves  in  a  foreign  country.  Consulting  with  a  French  jurist 
on  the  subject,  he  received  from  him  the  following  statement  re- 
specting the  law  of  the  French  empire.  The  information  which  it 
contains  may  become  valuable,  ere  long,  to  commanders  of  depart- 
ments in  the  south-west. 


630  GENERAL   BUTLER   AND   THE   NEGROES. 

Geneeal  Collection  of  Jueispefdexce. — Supplement. — Yolume  Fiest. 
Slavery . — Slave. 

"No.  40.  1st.  In  1848,  upon  the  advent  of  the  republic,  one  of  the  first 
acts  of  the  provisional  government  was  to  institute  a  commission,  ordered 
to  prepare  the  act  of  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  the  colonies  of  the 
French  republic.     March  4th,  1848. 

"2d.  A  short  time  afterward,  the  decree  of  April  27th,  1848,  was  ren- 
dered, which  abolished  slavery  in  all  the  French  colonies  and  possessions. 

"3d.  Article  8,  of  this  decree,  accorded  a  delay  of  three  years  to  all 
French  citizens,  established  in  foreign  countries,  to  set  free  or  alienate  the 
slaves  belonging  to  them.  A  law  of  February  11th,  1851,  fixed  the  delay 
at  ten  years. 

u  5th.  Later,  the  article  6th  of  the  constitution  of  November  4th,  1848, 
proclaimed  that  '  slavery  could  not  exist  upon  any  French  soil.' 

"Gth.  At  last  the  terms  of  article  4th  of  the  Senatus-Consulte  of  May 
3d,  1854,  were  :  '  slavery  can  never  be  reestablished  in  the  French  colonies.' 

"  However,  in  proclaiming  the  freedom  of  slaves,  the  decree  of  April  27th, 
1848,  granted  that  an  indemnity  should  be  accorded  to  planters,  and  the 
'national  assembly'  should  arrange  the  quota  (article  5th).  This  was  the 
object  of  the  law  of  April  30th,  1849. 

"  The  indemnity  has  been  accorded. 

"  Therefore,  the  provisional  government  has,  by  two  energetical  acts,  re- 
solutely decided  the  question  of  the  emacipation  of  the  slaves. 

"  The  first  is  the  emancipation  in  the  short  time  of  two  months ;  this  is 
article  1st,  o"f  the  decree  of  April  27th,  1848. 

"The  second  is  explained  in  article  8th  of  the  same  decree. 

"  This  article  reads  as  follows  : 

" '  In  future,  even  in  foreign  countries,  it  is  forbidden  to  any  Frenchman 
to  possess,  purchase,  or  sell  slaves,  and  to  participate  directly  or  indirectly 
in  any  traffic  or  emolument  of  that  kind.  Any  infraction  of  these  provi- 
sions will  entail  the  loss  of  French  citizenship. 

"  '  Nevertheless,  those  Frenchmen  who  find  themselves  affected  by  these 
prohibitions,  at  the  time  of  the  promulgation  of  the  present  decree,  will  be 
allowed  a  delay  of  three  years  to  conform  to  it.  Those  who  shall  become 
possessors  of  slaves  in  foreign  countries  by  heritage,  gift  or  marriage,  must, 
under  the  same  penalty,  either  free  or  alienate  them  within  the  same  period, 
calculating  from  the  day  when  their  possession  will  have  commenced.' 

"  Law  modifying  paragraph  2d  of  article  8th,  decree  of  April  22d,  1848, 
relative  to  proprietors  of  slaves. 

"(Dull:  Official,  No.  5,627.) 

"  (May  28,  1858),  promulgated  June  5th.  Article  1st,  paragraph  2d,  of 
article  8th,  of  the  decree  of  April  27,  1848,  is  modified  as  follows: 


GENERAL   BUTLER   AND   THE    NEGROES.  531 

" '  The  present  article  is  not  applicable  to  proprietors  of  slavey  whose 
possession  is  anterior  to  the  decree  of  April  27th,  1848,  whether  resulting 
from  succession,  donation  during  life,  or  testamentary,  or  from  matrimonial 
agreements.' " 

It  thus  appeared,  that  no  French  citizen  in  Louisiana  could  law- 
fully own  a  slave.  English  law  forbade  the  owning  of  slaves  by 
British  subjects  in  any  part  of  the  world,  under  heavy  penalties. 
The  confiscation  act  emancipated  the  slaves  of  rebels.  So  that, 
while  the  proclamation  of  January  1st  appeared  to  retain  in  servi- 
tude eighty-seven  thousand  slaves  in  Louisiana,  General  Butler 
deemed  it  feasible,  by  enforcing  the  laws  of  France  and  England, 
and  by  the  complete  execution  of  the  confiscation  act,  to  give  free- 
dom to  nearly  the  whole  number  of  these  eighty-seven  thousand 
slaves.  Probably  not  more  than  seven  thousand  of  the  eighty-seven 
thousand  were  the  property  of  loyal  citizens.  The  rest  were  free 
by  the  laws  of  France,  England,  or  the  United  States.  While  he 
was  considering  the  best  means  of  bringing  those  laws  to  bear 
in  "  extending  the  area  of  freedom,"  the  coming  of  his  successor 
was  announced  by  rebel  telegraph,  straight  from  the  recesses  of  the 
French  legation  at  the  city  of  Washington.  I  should  add,  that  the 
British  consul,  Mr.  Coppell,  who  now  appeared  to  be  on  friendly 
terms  wTith  the  commanding  general,  entered  warmly  into  the  half- 
formed  scheme. 

I  shall  take  leave  of  this  subject  by  relating  several  anecdotes 
illustrative  of  the  practical  working  of  slavery  in  Louisiana,  and  of 
the  manner  in  which  the  system  presented  itself  there  to  the  hunker 
mind.  Most  of  these  stories  I  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  General 
Butler  himself  relate. 
23 


638  REPRESENTATIVE   NEGRO    ANECDOTES. 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 

REPRESENTATIVE  NEGRO  ANECDOTES. 

Specimen  of  the  Provost  Court  Slave  Cases. 

John  Montamal,  a  free  man  of  color,  married  a  colored  woman, 
who  was  a  slave.  Both  were  light  mulattoes.  From  the  savings 
of  a  small  business,  he  bought  his  wife  for  six  hundred  dollars,  so 
that  he  stood  to  her  in  the  relation  of  proprietor  as  well  as  husband, 
and  his  children  were  his  slaves.  Their  only  surviving  child,  when 
the  Union  troops  arrived,  was  an  intelligent  girl  eleven  years  old, 
who  had  been  sent  to  school  and  had  been  received  into  the  Catholic 
church.  The  father  falling  into  misfortune  owing  to  the  troubled 
times,  in  an  evil  hour  mortgaged  his  daughter  to  his  creditors, 
trusting  to  be  able  to  redeem  her  in  time  to  prevent  her  from  being 
sold.  The  continuance  of  the  war  frustrated  his  plans  ;  the  mortgage 
was  foreclosed ;  the  child  was  sold  at  auction  by  the  sheriff.  In 
this  sad  extremity,  he  came  before  the  provost  court,  and  asked  the 
restoration  of  his  daughter.  The  case  was  ably  argued  by  counsel. 
Colonel  Kinsman,  who  was  then  filling  the  place  of  provost  judge, 
decided  that  the  girl  was  free,  and  gave  her  back  to  her  parents. 
This  decision  was  manifestly  contrary  to  the  laws  of  Louisiana, 
which  would  have  doomed  the  girl  to  slavery.  But  Colonel  Kins- 
man agreed  with  his  predecessor,  Major  Bell,  that  when  Louisiana 
went  out  of  the  Union  she  took  her  black  laws  with  her. 

This  is  the  mere  outline  of  the  story,  which,  fully  related,  would 
furnish  the  material  for  an  Uncle  Tom  novel.  Readers  can  under- 
stand it  who  have  imagination  enough  to  apply  the  situation  to  a 
favorite  child,  sister,  niece,  or  ward  of  their  own. 

Specimen  Letter  from  a  Slave  to  the  Commanding 

General. 

"  New  Oeleans,  June  18^,  1862. 
"  General  Butler — Dear  Sir  : — 

I  am  reputed  the  natural  son  of  one  Thomas  Thornhill,  an  aris- 


REPRESENTATIVE  NEGRO  ANECDOTES.  533 

tocratic  cotton  merchant  of  this  city,  an  officer  in  the  rebel  army, 
recently  killed  in  one  of  the  battles  in  Virginia. 

"  My  mother,  my  sister  and  myself  are  claimed  as  slaves  by 
George  Hawthorne,  of  this  city,  who  has  been  a  soldier  'n  the  rebel 
army  from  its  first  organization,  and  is  now  in  that  army  near 
Richmond.     Our  wages  are  used  for  his  benefit. 

"  He  has  given  a  power  of  attorney  to  one  J.  A.  Banorres,  his 
mistress  in  this  city,  to  sell,  hire,  or  dispose  of  us  at  her  pleasure. 
We  were  not  slaves  for  life,  but  to  serve  his  lifetime  by  the  will  of 
his  mother. 

"  Will  your  honor  save  us  from  perpetual  slavery  ? 
"  Respectfully, 

"  Your  humble  servant, 

"VlRGINTTJS   THORNHILL." 

Cases  of  this  kind  were  uniformly  investigated.  If  the  slave  es- 
tablished his  legal  right  to  freedom,  he  was  declared  free. 

General  Butler  on  the  Fugitive  Slave  Question, 

Visitor. — "  General,  I  wish  you  would  give  me  an  order  to  search 
for  my  negro." 

"  Have  you  lost  your  horse  ?" 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Have  you  lost  your  mule  ?" 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Well,  sir,  if  you  had  lost  your  horse  or  your  mule,  would  you 
come  and  ask  me  to  neglect  my  duty  to  the  government,  for  the 
purpose  of  assisting  you  to  catch  them  ?" 

"  Of  course  not." 

"  Then  why  should  you  expect  me  to  employ  myself  in  hunting 
after  any  other  article  of  your  property  ?"  [Exit  Visitor. 

Two  Masters. 

"  The  first  negro  met  by  our  soldiers  at  Baton  Rouge  was  an  old 
house  servant.  The  picket  brought  down  his  gun,  and  stopped  old 
Uncle  Ned  short  in  his  effort  to  retreat.  Then  there  followed  this 
conversation,  the  negro  standing,  meantime,  with  his  eyes  sticking 


534  REPRESENTATIVE    NEGRO    ANECDOTES. 

out  of  his  head,  and  his  face  on  a  broad  grin  of  astonishment  and 
fear : 

"  Soldier. — Where's  your  master  ?" 

"  ZTncle  Ned. — Dun  no,  master." 

"  Soldier. — Tell  me  where  is  your  master  ?" 

"  Uncle  Ned. — Ton  my  soul,  dun  no,  master." 

"  Soldier — (affecting  great  sternness)-. — Look  here,  if  you  don't 
tell  me  where  your  master  is,  I'll  blow  your  brains  out !" 

"  Uncle  Ned — (getting  more  than  ever  scared). — By  golly,  dis 
nigger  is  in  a  bad  fix.  If  he  tells  whar  Massa  Charles  Cassell  is, 
Massa  Charles,  if  he  catch  em,  will  whip  dis  nigger  to  def ;  if  he 
don't  tell,  den  you  soger  will  blow  his  brains  out.  Dis  nigger  is  in 
a  bad  fix,  sartin."* 

Convicts'  Children. 

In  the  state  prison  at  Baton  Rouge  were  found  several  children 
born  in  prison  of  female  colored  convicts.  By  the  laws  of  Louisi- 
ana, these  children  were  the  property  of  the  state,  doomed  to  be 
sold  as  slaves  to  the  highest  bidder.  The  new  superintendent, 
Moses  Bates,  applied  to  the  general  for  orders  with  regard  to  them. 
"  I  certainly  can  not  sanction,"  wrote  General  Butler,  "  any  laws 
of  the  state  of  Louisiana,  which  enslaved  any  children  of  female 
convicts,  born  in  the  state  prison.  Their  place  of  birth  is  certainly 
not  their  fault.  You  are,  therefore,  to  take  such  care  of  them  as 
would  be  done  with  other  destitute  children.  If  these  children 
were  born  of  female  convict  slaves,  possibly  the  master  might  have 
some  claim,  but  I  do  not  see  how  the  state  can  have  any." 

An  Anecdote  which  the  late  Rioters  and  their  friends 
will  regard  as  a  Good  Joke. 

General  Butler  had  a  dandy  regiment  in  New  Orleans — one  a 
little  nicer  in  uniform  and  personal  habits  than  any  other ;  and  so 
ably  commanded,  that  it  had  not  lost  a  man  by  disease  since  leav- 
ing New  England.  One  day,  the  colonel  of  this  fine  regiment  came 
to  head-quarters,  wearing  the  expression  of  a  man  who  had  some 

*  Correspondence  of  the  New  York  Time*. 


REPRESENTATIVE  NEGRO  ANECDOTES.  535 

thing  exceedingly  pleasant  to  communicate.  It  was  just  "before  the 
fourth  of  July. 

"  General,"  said  he,  "  two  young  ladies  have  been  to  me, — beauti- 
ful girls, — who  say  they  have  made  a  set  of  colors  for  the  regiment, 
which  they  wish  to  present  on  the  fourth  of  July." 

"  But  is  their  father  willing  ?"  asked  the  general,  well  knowing 
what  it  must  cost  two  young  ladies  of  New  Orleans,  at  that  early 
time,  to  range  themselves  so  conspicuously  on  the  side  of  the 
Union. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  replied  the  colonel ;  "  their  father  gave  them  the 
money,  and  will  attend  at  the  ceremony.  But  have  you  any  ob- 
jection?" 

"  Not  the  least,  if  their  father  is  willing." 

"  Will  you  ride  out  and  review  the  regiment  on  the  occasion  ?" 

"  With  pleasure." 

So,  in  the  cool  twilight  of  the  evening  of  the  fourth,  the  general, 
in  his  best  uniform,  with  chapeau  and  feathers,  worn  then  for  the 
first  time  in  New  Orleans,  reviewed  the  regiment,  amid  a  concourse 
of  spectators.  One  of  the  young  ladies  made  a  pretty  presentation, 
to  which  the  gallant  colonel  handsomely  replied.  The  general 
made  a  brief  address.  It  was  a  gay  and  joyful  scene  :  everything 
passed  off  with  the  highest  eclat,  and  was  chronicled  with  all  the 
due  editorial  flourish  in  the  Delta. 

Two  days  after,  the  young  ladies  addressed  a  note  to  the  regi- 
ment, of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  : 

"New  Orleans,  July  5,  1862. 

"Gentlemen: — "We  congratulate  and  thank  you  all  for  the  manner  in 
which  you  have  received  our  flag.  "We  did  not  expect  such  a  reception. 
"We  offered  the  flag  to  you  as  a  gift  from  our  hearts,  as  a  reward  to  your 
noble  conduct.  Be  assured,  gentlemen,  that  that  day  will  be  always  pres- 
ent in  our  minds,  and  that  we  will  never  forget  that  we  gave  it  to  the 
bravest  of  the  brave ;  but  if  ever  danger  threatens  your  heads,  rally  under 
that  banner,  call  again  your  courage  to  defend  it,  as  you  have  promised,  and 
remember  that  those  from  whom  you  received  it  will  help  you  by  their 
prayers  to  win  the  palms  of  victory  and  triumph  over  your  enemies. 

"  We  tender  our  thanks  to  General  Butler  for  lending  his  presence  to  the 
occasion,  and  for  his  courtesies  to  us.  May  he  continue  his  noble  work, 
and  ere  long  may  we  behold  the  Union  victorious  over  his  foes  and  reunited 
throughout  our  great  and  glorious  country.     Very  respectfully." 


536  REPRESENTATIVE   NEGRO   ANECDOTES. 

A  few  days  later,  an  officer  of  the  regiment  came  into  the  office 
of  the  commanding  general,  his  countenance  not  clad  in  smiles.  He 
looked  like  a  man  who  had  seen  a  ghost,  or  like  one  who  had  sud- 
denly heard  of  some  entirely  crushing  calamity. 

"  General,"  he  gasped,  "  we  have  been  sold.  They  were  ne- 
groes !" 

"  What !  Those  lovely  blondes,  with  blue  eyes,  and  light  hair  ? 
Impossible !" 

"  General,  it's  as  true  as  there's  a  heaven  above  us.  The  whole 
town  is  laughing  at  us." 

"Well,"  said  the  general,  "there's  no  harm  done.  Say  nothing 
about  it.  I  suppose  we  must  keep  it  out  of  the  papers,  and  hush  it 
up  as  well  as  we  can." 

They  did  not  quite  succeed  in  keeping  it  out  of  the  papers,  for 
one  of  the  "  foreign  neutrals  "  of  the  city  sent  an  account  of  the 
affair  to  the  Courrier  des  Mats  ZTnis,  in  New  York,  with  the  inevi- 
table French  decorations. 

Comment  suppressed. 

The  story  of  Jeff,  now  a  Lowell  Barber, 

A  young  lawyer  of  New  Orleans  came  one  day  to  head-quarters 
with  a  petition. 

"  General,"  said  he,  "  you  have  a  favorite  body-servant  of  mine, 
a  mulatto  man,  named  Jeff.  One  of  your  surgeons  has  him  at  the 
hospital.  I  am  used  to  the  fellow — he  is  a  great  favorite — had  him 
ten  years — can't  do  without  him.  Let  me  have  him,  and  I  will  give 
you  another  man  as  good  for  your  purpose  as  he  is." 

The  general  referred  him  to  Surgeon  Smith,  who  had  the  man. 
If  the  surgeon  was  willing,  and  Jeff  was  willing,  the  general  had 
no  objection.  With  a  note  to  this  effect  from  the  general  to  the 
surgeon,  the  lawyer  departed. 

Soon  after,  surgeon  Smith  came  hurrying  to  head-quarters  with 
a  very  different  version  of  the  story.  Jeff,  he  said,  was  no  body- 
servant,  but  a  barber,  who  had  hired  his  time  from  his  master  at 
forty  dollars  a  month.  "  He  shaved  me  in  his  shop  when  we  land- 
ed," added  the  doctor.  "  Every  one  in  New  Orleans  knows  him 
as  a  barber  here,  established  for  many  years.  His  master  only 
wants  his  forty  dollars  a  month." 


REPRESENTATIVE   NEGRO   ANECDOTES.  537 

These  facts  being  established,  General  Butler  expressed  himself 
upon  the  subject  to  the  owner  of  this  barber,  in  what  Mr.  Dickens 
styles  "the  English  language."     Jeff  remained  at  the  hospital. 

A  few  days  after,  word  was  brought  to  the  general,  that  Jeff, 
bearing  free  papers  as  a  servant  of  the  United  States,  had  been 
seized  in  the  streets,  had  been  overpowered  after  a  desperate  fight, 
thrust  into  a  carriage,  and  driven  off  to  Foster's  slave  pen. 

"  Bring  Foster  here." 

Foster  was  brought.  He  said  that  Jeff  had  remained  at  his  pen 
only  for  an  hour,  and  had  then  been  carried  off,  he  knew  not 
where.  The  general  notified  him  that  the  business  of  slave-pen 
keeping  was  obsolete  in  "New  Orleans,  and  warned  him  against  at- 
tempting to  continue  it.  The  detective  force  was  ordered  to  pro- 
duce Jeff  at  their  very  earliest  convenience.  "No  trace  of  him, 
however,  could  be  discovered  that  day,  nor  during  the  night. 

The  next  morning,  the  captain  of  a  gun-boat,  stationed  below 
the  city,  reported  that  a  man  had  swam  off  to  his  vessel  at  day- 
break, in  irons,  calling  himself  Jeff,  who  said  that  he  has  been  kid- 
napped in  New  Orleans,  and  taken  to  a  plantation,  where  a  black- 
smith had  ironed  him,  and  he  had  been  chained  in  a  garret  all 
night,  from  which  he  had  escaped  by  the  aid  of  a  file.  Jeff  him- 
self soon  arrived,  and  related  his  adventures.  It  was  his  master, 
he  said,  who  had  seized,  carried  off,  and  chained  him. 

For  this  offense  the  master  was  tried  and  sentenced  to  two 
years  in  the  parish  prison. 

After  these  events,  Jeff  was  made  much  of  by  the  oifieers  of  the 
hospital ;  was  trusted,  at  length,  with  the  keys  of  the  store-closets  ; 
which  trust  he  variously  abused,  often  getting  drunk  upon  the 
hospital  liquors.  Hence,  after  many  reformations  and  relapses, 
Jeff  found  himself  an  inmate  of  the  same  parish  prison  in  which 
his  master  was  confined. 

It  now  occurred  to  the  legal  mind  of  the  master  that  Jeff,  be- 
ing a  prisoner,  could  no  longer  be  considered  under  the  protection 
or  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  He  ventured,  therefore,  to 
sell  his  barber.  When  Jeff's  term  of  imprisonment  had  expired, 
the  general  received  information  that  he  had  vanished  again,  and 
could  nowhere  be  found.     He  sent  for  the  master. 

"  Take  your  choice,"  said  the  general :  "  Produce  Jeff,  or  live 
on  bread  and  water  till  you  do." 


538  BEPEESENTATIVE  NEGRO  ANECDOTES. 

Bread  and  water  did  not  agree  with  the  luxurious  constitution 
of  a  man  accustomed  to  live  upon  the  wages  of  a  barber.  Finding 
himself  growing  thin  upon  that  austere  diet,  he  soon  gave  the  in- 
formation desired,  and  Jeff  was  again  restored  to  freedom.  The 
purchaser  was  condemned  to  thirty  days'  imprisonment  for  buying 
a  free  man. 

Jeff,  being  then  removed  from  temptation,  behaved  so  well  that 
General  Butler  took  him  into  his  own  service  ;  in  which  he  was  at 
the  time  of  the  general's  return  home.  Knowing  well  what  would 
befall  Jeff  if  he  were  left  to  the  tender  mercies  of  his  master, 
he  brought  him  to  the  North,  where  he  is  established  in  his  old 
occupation. 

Curious  Entry. 

The  patriotic  ex-hunkers  who  edited  the  loyal  Delta,  upon  look- 
ing over  the  old  books  of  the  concern,  found  this  entry  in  one  of 
them  : 

"Whipping  Wade,  two  dollars."  Wade  was  the  respectable 
porter  of  the  establishment. 

A  colored  Soldier  in  trouble. 

Soon  after  the  colored  regiments  had  been  raised,  a  provost 
officer,  who  augured  the  worst  results  from  the  arming  of  ne- 
groes, came  to  head-quarters  with  a  story  that  was  strongly  con- 
firmatory of  his  forebodings.  One  of  the  negro  soldiers,  he  said, 
had  killed  his  former  master  with  a  bayonet. 

"  I'm  afraid  it  will  never  do,  general,"  said  he,  "  this  arming  of 
the  blacks.     I  have  always  said  so,  and  here  is  the  proof  of  it." 

Soon  after,  came  a  long  letter  from  the  British  consul,  detailing 
the  case ;  Mr.  Montgomery,  the  wounded  man,  being  a  British 
subject.  "  It  appears,"  wrote  Mr.  Coppell,  "  that  the  colored  man, 
John  Andrew,  a  dark  mulatto,  twenty-two  years  of  age,  formerly 
owned  by  Mrs.  Montgomery,  was  in  the  city  on  Saturday  and  Sun- 
day last  on  furlough  ;  that  he  called  twice  at  Mr.  Montgomery's 
house  ;  that  when  there  the  second  time,  Montgomery  saw  him,  and 
told  him  not  to  come  there  again ;  whereupon,  Andrew  drew  the 
bayonet  at  his  side,  rushed  upon  Mr.  Montgomery,  and  stabbed 


REPRESENTATIVE  NEGRO  ANECDOTES.  539 

him  in  the  left  breast,  at  the  same  time  using  abusive  and  obscene 
language,  and  threatening  that  if  Montgomery  approached  him  he 
would  kill  him.  Fortunately,  the  wound  is  not  a  serious  one,  and, 
soon  after  the  occurrence,  Mr.  Montgomery  was  able  to  take  steps 
to  have  Andrew  arrested.  Colonel  French  kindly  allowed  an 
officer  to  accompany  Mr.  Montgomery  to  the  Opelousas  railroad 
station  this  morning,  but  he  was  unable  to  find  Andrew  in  the 
crowd.  Unable  to  give  definite  information  of  the  company  or 
regiment  to  which  John  Andrew  belongs,  beyond  that  already 
stated,  and  that  on  the  13th  ult.  he  dated  an  insulting  letter  to 
Mrs.  Montgomery  from  Lafourche  Crossing,  I  feel  convinced  that 
you  will  deem  the  crime  one  that  will  call  forth  such  exertions  as 
will  lead  to  his  speedy  arrest  and  punishment." 

The  case  looked  black  enough  for  poor  John  Andrew.  Alas ! 
for  him,  if  such  a  complaint  had  been  entered  against  him  in  the 
good  old  days  when  a  dark  mulatto  had  no  rights  which  an  English- 
man of  any  complexion  was  bound  to  respect. 

John  Andrew  was  summoned  to  head-quarters.  He  came,  accom- 
panied by  his  captain,  who  gave  him  the  highest  character.  Such 
had  been  the  excellent  conduct  of  the  man  since  he  had  enlisted, 
and  such  was  his  capacity  and  intelligence,  that  though  he  could 
not  read,  he  had  been  made  a  corporal.  Mr.  Montgomery  was 
present,  and  told  his  story.  Mr.  Coppell  was  there  to  support  his 
countryman. 

"  Now,  Andrew,"  said  the  general,  "  state  exactly  what  occur- 
red.    Tell  me  the  truth,  and  all  the  truth." 

"  I  will,  general,"  said  he.  "  I  went  to  the  camp  and  joined  the 
regiment.  When  I  had  been  away  two  weeks,  I  came  back  to  see 
my  sister,  who  is  cook  in  master's  house.  I  saw  master  as  I  passed, 
sitting  at  the  front  door.  As  I  was  -talking  with  my  sister  at  the 
back  gate,  I  heard  the  front  door  slam,  and  thinking  master  was 
coming,  and  not  wishing  to  get  my  sister  into  trouble,  I  walked 
away.  I  heard  him  calling  me,  but  I  kept  on,  as  though  I  had  not 
heard  him.  I  walked  on,"  said  Andrew  with  flashing  eyes,  and  the 
mien  of  a  prince,  "  because  no  man  has  a  right  to  stop  a  United 
States  soldier,  except  his  officer.  'Stop,  or  I'll  blow  your  brains 
out,'  said  master.  I  turned,  and  saw  that  he  had  a  revolver  aimed 
at  me.  I  drew  my  bayonet,  and  made  one  pass  at  him.  He  then 
turned  and  went  into  the  house,  and  I  walked  away." 


540  REPRESENTATIVE  NEGRO  ANECDOTES. 

This  was  Andrew's  story.  - 

"  Now,  Mr.  Montgomery,"  said  the  general,  "  tell  us  precisely 
what  part  of  the  man's  story  is  not  true." 

'"  Well,"  said  he,  "  I  was  sitting  at  my  front  door,  reading  the 
paper,  and  heard  Andrew  talking  to  my  cook.  I  took  a  pistol  to 
drive  him  away." 

"  But  why  take  a  pistol,  and  why  drive  him  away  ?"  asked  the 
general.     "  As  a  British  subject  you  can  hold  no  slave." 

"  I  did  not  want  him  there,"  said  this  lying  coward,  "  talking 
with  my  cook.     He  had  sent  my  wife  an  insulting  letter." 

"  What  was  the  letter  ?  Produce  it." 

The  letter,  which  Andrew  had  got  one  of  his  comrades  to  write 
for  him,  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  friendly  and  respectful  char- 
acter. It  began  thus  :  "  Dear  Mistress :  I  take  my  pen  in  hand  to 
let  you  know  that  I  am  well,  and  hope  you  are  the  same.  I  was 
sorry  to  part  from  you,"  etc.,  etc.  There  was  not  a  word  in  it 
which  was  not  respectful  or  affectionate. 

Witnesses  of  the  affray  confirmed  the  truth  of  Andrew's  story. 

"My judgment  is,"  said  the  general  to  the  consul,  "that  Andrew 
served  him  right.  I  see  nothing  to  blame  in  his  conduct,  except 
that  he  did  not  strike  hard  enough ;  and  if  your  friend  wishes  any- 
thing more  done  in  connection  with  this  case,  we'll  try  him  on  a 
charge  of  assault  with  intent  to  kill." 

Montgomery  expressed  no  desire  for  farther  proceedings,  and  the 
case  was  dismissed.     Andrew  returned  to  his  regiment  in  triumph. 

Anecdote  showing  the  Good  Disposition  of  the  Emanci- 
pated Negroes,  and  the  perfect  safety  of  Immediate 
Abolition. 

Major  Strong  received  from  an  officer  commanding  an  expedi- 
tion, the  following  letter  early  in  November : 

"  In  still  farther  confirmation  of  what  I  wrote  you,  in  my  dis- 
patch of  this  morning,  relative  to  servile  insurrection,  I  have  the 
honor  to  inform  you,  that,  on  the  plantation  of  Mr.  David  Pugh,  a 
short  distance  above  here,  the  negroes,  who  had  returned  under  the 
terms  fixed  upon  by  Major-General  Butler,  without  provocation  or 
tause  of  any  kind,  refused,  this  morning,  to  work,  and  assaulted  the 


REPRESENTATIVE  NEGRO  ANECDOTES.  541 

overseer  and  Mr.  Pugh,  injuring  them  severely ;  also  a  gentleman 
who  came  to  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Pugh.  Upon  the  plantation, 
also,  of  Mr.  W.  J.  Miner,  on  the  Terrebonne  road,  about  sixteen 
miles  from  here,  an  outbreak  has  already  occurred,  and  the  entire 
community  thereabout  are  in  hourly  expectation  and  terror  of  a 
general  rising." 

Investigation  ensued,  which  established  the  facts  that  follow: 

Senator  Pugh's  negroes,  when  the  Union  troops  possessed  the 
Lafourche  country,  were  among  those  who  came  pouring  into  the 
Union  camp,  and  who  had  returned  to  their  work  under  a  promise 
of  protection  in  all  their  rights,  and  a  fair  share  of  the  proceeds  of 
their  labor.  One  morning,  when  the  negroes  were  assembled  as 
usual,  to  go  to  the  field,  one  of  them  left  the  line  and  ran  toward 
his  cabin. 

"  Come  back,"  shouted  the  overseer,  in  the  old,  brutal  tone  of 
command. 

"  I'm  only  going  after  my  coat,"  said  the  man. 

He  went  to  his  cabin,  got  his  coat,  and  rejoined  the  gang  before 
it  started. 

The  next  morning,  when  the  negroes  were  again  drawn  up,  before 
going  to  their  work,  Pugh  himself  came  on  the  ground,  when  the 
overseer  said  to  him,  pointing  out  the  negro : 

"  There's  the  damned  rascal  who  was  impudent  to  me  yesterday 
morning." 

Pugh,  forgetting  that  old  things  had  passed  away  in  Lafourche, 
began  to  belabor  the  negro  over  the  head  with  his  walking  stick. 
The  negro,  who  had  a  better  memory,  resisted,  and  defended  him- 
self. The  overseer  came  to  the  assistance  of  his  employer.  The 
other  negroes  joined  in  the  fray,  and,  in  a  very  few  seconds,  the 
two  white  men  found  themselves  flat  on  the  ground,  each  held  down 
by  half  a  dozen  stout  negroes. 

What  any  other  gang  of  laboring  men,  except  negroes,  would 
have  done  next  in  such  circumstances,  we  all  know ;  the  savage 
Pugh  and  his  lying  overseer  would  have  received  the  punishment 
due  to  their  insolence  and  brutality.  These  negroes,  unmoved  by 
the  memory  of  a  thousand  wrongs,  carefully  bound  the  two  pros- 
trate men,  hand  and  foot ;  made  two  litters ;  placed  them  gently 
upon  the  litters ;  and,  conveying  them  in  silence  to  the  nearot 
Union  cam]),  laid  them  down  before  the  tent  of  the  commanding 


542  REPRESENTATIVE  NEGRO  ANECDOTES. 

officer,  and  waited  patiently  there,  cap  in  hand,  to  relate  the  occur- 
rences which  justified  their  novel  proceedings.  The  most  rigorous 
examination  of  both  parties  only  proved  that  the  negroes  had  told 
their  story  with  religious  exactness.  The  general  justified  and  ap- 
plauded the  course  they  had  taken,  and  gave  them  the  protection 
needed  in  the  circumstances. 

Forbearance  less  meritorious  than  that  shown  by  these  poor 
negroes  has  been  styled  sublime,  and  no  one  has  questioned  the 
propriety  of  the  epithet, 

The  kind  of  man  that  could  once  be  elected  a  Judge  in 
New  Orleans, 

John  G.  Cocks  is  his  name — Cocks,  John  G.  He  is  the  indi- 
vidual, to  whom  allusion  has  before  been  made  in  these  pages, 
whose  property  General  Butler  seized  in  behalf  of  Major  Anderson. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion  this  Cocks,  Judge  Cocks,  pub- 
lished in  the  New  Orleans  Picayune  an  impudent  letter  to  Major 
Anderson. 

A   PEOPOSITION   TO  MAJOE  ANDEESON". 

"New  Oeleans,  May  16,  1861. 
"Major  Eobt.  Andeeson,  late  of  Fort  Sumter,  S.  0. : 

"  Sie  :— You  hold  my  three  notes  for  $4,500  each,  with  about  $1,000 
accumulated  interest,  all  due  in  the  month  of  March,  1862,  which  notes 
were  given  in  part  payment  of  twenty-nine  negroes,  purchased  of  you  in 
March,  1860.  As  I  consider  fair  play  a  jewel,  I  take  this  method  to  notify 
you  that  I  will  not  pay  these  notes ;  hut,  as  I  neither  seek  nor  wish  an 
advantage,  I  desire  that  you  return  me  the  notes  and  the  money  paid  yon, 
and  the  negroes  shall  be  subject  to  your  order,  which  you  will  find  much 
improved  by  kind  treatment  since  they  came  into  my  possession. 

"I  feel  justified  in  giving  you,  and  the  public,  this  notice,  as  I  do  not 
consider  it  fair  play  that  I  should  be  held  to  pay  for  the  very  property  you 
so  opportunely  dispossessed  yourself  of,  and  now  seek  to  destroy  both  their 
value  and  usefulness  to  me.  I  ask  no  more  than  to  cancel  the  sale,  restore 
to  you  your  property,  and  let  each  assume  his  original  position  ;  then  your 
present  efforts  may  be  considered  less  selfish,  because  at  your  expense,  and 
not  mine. 

"  John  G.  Cocks." 

General  Butler,  in  pursuance  of  his  system  of  redressing  the 
wrongs  of  Union  men,  seized  the  large  estates  of  Judge  Cocks. 


EEPEESENTATTVE  NEGEO  ANECDOTES.  543 

and  held  them  for  the  future  liquidation  of  Major  Anderson's 
claim.  Cocks  justly  thinking  that  New  Orleans,  under  the  rule  of 
General  Butler,  was  no  fit  place  for  him  to  reside  in,  vanished  soon 
after  into  the  congenial  shades  of  Secessia. 

A  few  days  after  his  departure,  a  young  woman  sought  an  inter- 
view with  Mrs.  Butler,  to  whom  many  women  came  at  that  time, 
to  relate  their  wrongs.  So  many  women,  indeed,  resorted  to  he., 
for  that  purpose,  that  at  length  it  was  found  necessary  to  close  that 
door  to  the  commanding  general's  attention.  The  young  woman 
who  came  to  her  on  this  occasion  was  a  perfect  blonde,  her  hair  of 
a  light  shade  of  brown,  her  eyes  "  a  clear,  honest  gray,"  her  com- 
plexion remarkably  pure  and  delicate,  her  bearing  modest  and  re- 
fined, her  language  that  of  an  educated  woman.  It  has  been  often 
remarked  that  the  women  of  the  South,  who  have  been  made  the 
victims  of  a  master's  brutal  lust,  escape  moral  contamination. 
Their  souls  remain  chaste.  This  woman,  so  fair  to  look  upon,  so 
engaging  in  her  demeanor,  so  refined  in  her  address,  was  a  slave, 
the  slave  of  Judge  Cocks.  She  told  her  incredible  story — incredi- 
ble until  superabundant  testimony  compelled  the  most  incredulous 
to  believe. 

She  said  that  Judge  Cocks  was  her  father  as  well  as  her  master. 
At  an  early  age  she  had  been  sent  to  school  at  New  York,  the 
school  of  the  Mechanics'  Institute,  in  Broadway.  When  she  was 
fifteen  years  of  age,  her  father  came  to  New  York,  took  her  from 
school  to  his  hotel,  and  compelled  her  to  live  with  him  as  his  mis- 
tress. She  became  the  mother  of  a  child,  of  whom  her  master  was 
father  and  grandfather. 

"  I  am  now  twenty-one,"  said  she,  "  and  I  am  the  mother  of  a 
boy  five  years  old,  who  is  my  father's  son." 

Cocks  took  her  home  with  him  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  live  with  her  for  awhile ;  then  ordered  her  to  marry  a 
favorite  protege.  She  refused.  He  had  her  horsewhipped  in 
the  streets,  and  continued  a  systematic  torture  till  she  consented. 
When  she  had  been  married  for  some  time,  the  protege  (a  man  so 
nearly  white,  that  he  was  employed  as  chief  clerk  in  a  wholesale 
house)  discovered  the  shameless  cheat  that  had  been  put  upon  him, 
and  abandoned  his  wife.  Then  the  master  took  her  again  to  his 
incestuous  bed,  and  gave  her  a  deed  of  manumission,  which  he 
afterward  took  from  her  and  destroyed. 


544  REPRESEOTATIYE    NEGEO   ANECDOTES. 

"  And  now,"  she  added,  "  he  has  gone  oif,  and  left  me  and  my 
children  without  any  means  of  support." 

Mrs.  Butler,  amazed  and  confounded  at  this  tale  of  horror,  pro- 
cured her  an  interview  with  the  general,  to  whom  the  story  was 
repeated.  He  sjDoke  kindly  to  her,  but  told  her  frankly  that  he 
could  not  believe  her  story. 

"It  is  too  much,"  said  he,  "to  believe  on  the  testimony  of  one 
witness.     Does  any  one  else  know  of  these  things?" 

"Yes,"  she  replied :  "everybody  in  New  Orleans  knows  them." 

"  I  will  have  the  case  investigated,"  said  the  general.  "  Come 
again  in  three  days." 

General  Shepley  undertook  the  investigation.  He  found  that 
the  woman's  story  was  as  true  as  it  was  notorious.  The  facts  were 
completely  substantiated.  General  Butler  gave  her  her  freedom, 
and  assigned  her  an  allowance  from  her  father's  estate ;  and,  some 
time  afier,  Captain  Puffer,  during  his  short  tenure  of  power  as 
deputy  provost-marshal,  gave  her  one  of  the  best  of  her  father's 
houses  to  live  in,  by  letting  apartments  in  which  she  added  to  her 
income. 

It  is  now  a  year  since  the  outline  of  this  story  was  first  published 
to  the  world,  but  no  attempt  has  been  made,  from  any  quarter,  to 
controvert  any  part  of  it. 

Story  of  an  old  Gentleman  who  thought  a  Man  could 
do  what  he  liked  with  his  own  Servant. 

A  lieutenant  searched  a  certain  house  in  New  Orleans,  in  which 
confederate  arms  were  reported  to  be  concealed.  Arms  and  tents 
were  found  stowed  in  the  garret,  which  were  removed  to  that 
grand  repository  of  contraband  articles,  the  Custom-House.  A  gen- 
tleman of  venerable  aspect,  with  long  white  hair  and  a  form  bent 
with  premature  old  age,  was  the  occupant  of  the  house  from  which 
the  arms  and  tents  were  taken. 

In  the  twilight  of  an  evening  soon  after  the  search,  the  most 
fearful  screams  were  heard  proceeding  from  the  yard  of  the  house, 
as  if  a  human  being  was  suffering  there  the  utmost  that  a  mortal 
can  endure  of  agony.  A  sentinel,  who  was  pacing  his  beat  near 
by,  ran  into  the  yard,  where  he  beheld  a  hideous  spectacle.  A 
young  mulatto  girl  was  stretched  upon  the  ground  on  her  face,  her 


EEPRESENTATIVE    NEGEO    AXECDOTES.  545 

feet  tied  to  a  stake,  her  hands  held  by  a  black  man,  her  back  un- 
covered, from  neck  to  heels.  The  venerable  old  gentleman  with 
the  flowing  white  hair  was  seated  in  an  arm-chair  by  the  side  of 
the  girl,  at  a  distance  convenient  for  his  purpose.  He  held  in  his 
hand  a  powerful  horse-whip,  with  which  he  was  lashing  the  delicate 
and  sensitive  flesh  of  the  young  girl.  Her  back  was  covered  with 
blood.  Every  stroke  of  the  infernal  instrument  of  torture  tore  up 
her  flesh  in  long  dark  ridges.  The  soldier,  aghast  at  the  sight, 
rushed  to  the  guard-house,  and  reported  wThat  he  had  seen  to  his 
sergeant,  and  the  sergeant  ran  to  head-quarters  and  told  the  gen- 
eral. General  Butler  sent  him  flying  back  to  stop  the  old  mis- 
creant, and  ordered  him  to  bring  the  torturer  and  his  victim  to 
head-quarters  the  next  morning. 

The  sergeant  hurried  back  and  rescued  the  girl  from  the  lash. 

About  nine  the  same  evening,  the  sergeant  came  again  to  head- 
quarters, breathless,  reporting  that  they  were  torturing  the  girl 
again,  as  the  most  heart-rending  shrieks  w^ere  heard  coming  from 
an  upper  room  of  the  house.  General  Butler  ordered  him  to  arrest 
all  the  inmates  of  the  house,  and  keep  them  in  the  guard-house  all 
night,  and  bring  them  before  him  in  the  morning.  On  returning 
to  the  house,  the  sergeant  found  that  the  second  outcry  was  caused 
by  washing  the  lacerated  back  of  the  poor  girl  with  strong  brine. 
They  do  this  at  the  South  on  the  pretense  that  it  causes  the 
wounds  of  the  lash  to  heal  more  quickly  and  with  less  pain.  The 
real  object  is  to  make  them  heal  without  such  scars  as  would 
lessen  the  value  of  the  slave  at  the  auction  block.  It  is  said  really 
to  have  that  effect ;  and  the  operation  has  the  farther  charm  of  be- 
ing more  exquisitely  painful  than  the  punishment  itself;  since  the 
flooding  of  the  back  with  brine  revives  the  dull  sensitiveness  of  the 
nerves,  calls  back  the  dead  agony  to  life,  renews,  in  one  instant, 
the  anguish  of  each  several  stroke,  and  that  anguish  intensified. 
The  whole  extent  of  the  sufferer's  back  is  one  biting,  burning, 
piercing,  maddening  pain. 

In  the  morning,  the  hoary  wretch  and  his  tortured  slave  were 
brought  to  the  general's  office.  The  upper  part  of  her  dress  was 
opened.     It  was  a  hideous  and  horrible  sight. 

u  What  have  you  to  say,  sir  ?"  said  General  Butler  to  the  old  man. 

He  said  the  girl  had  given  information  respecting  the  arms  and 
tents  in  his  garret,  and  she  was  going  to  run  away. 


546  REPRESENTATIVE  NEGRO  ANECDOTES. 

"  It  is  false,  sir,"  said  the  general,  "  so  far  as  the  information  is 
concerned.  We  had  our  information  from  another  source.  What 
was  the  cause  of  the  second  outcry  ?" 

The  old  man  said  he  did  not  know.  The  general  asked  the  girl. 
She  said  it  was  master  washing  her  with  brine. 

"  Is  this  so  ?"  asked  the  general. 

"  Yes." 

"  You  damned  old  rascal !  What  could  tempt  you  to  treat  a 
human  being  so  ?" 

"  She  is  my  servant,  and  I  suppose  I  may  do  what  I  like  with 
her.     I  washed  her  to  relieve  her  from  pain." 

"  To  relieve  her  ?  Well,  sir,  I  shall  commit  you  to  Fort  Jack 
son." 

u  General,  I  am  a  native  of  South  Carolina ;  my  health  is  infirm. 
It  will  kill  me." 

"  I  can't  help  that.  And  see  that  you  behave  well,  or  you  shall 
have  precisely  the  same  punishment  that  you  have  given  this  poor 
girl,  and  to  relieve  your  pain,  you  shall  be  washed  down  with 
brine." 

The  old  native  of  South  Carolina  went  to  Fort  Jackson,  where,  I 
am  happy  to  be  able  to  state,  he  died  in  a  month.  General  Butler 
gave  the  girl  her  freedom,  and  assigned  her  a  sum  of  money  suffi- 
cient  to  set  her  up  in  some  little  business,  such  as  colored  girls 
carry  on  in  New  Orleans. 

A  "respectable  Merchant  and  Ms  Slave  Daughter. 

One  Sunday  morning,  while  General  Butler  was  seated  at  the 
breakfast  table,  Major  Strong,  a  gentleman  who  Was  not  given  to 
undue  emotion,  rushed  into  the  room,  pale  with  rage  and  horror. 

a  General,"  he  exclaimed,  "  there  is  the  most  damnable  thing  out 
here !" 

The  general  followed  him  to  the  office.  There  he  found  the  sta*f 
assembled,  standing  round  a  woman,  gazing  upon  her  with  flash- 
ing eyes,  their  countenances  betraying  mingled  pity  and  fury. 
The  servants  of  the  house  were  crowding  about  the  doors  of  the 
room.  The  woman  who  was  the  object  of  so  much  attention,  was 
nearly  white,  aged  about  twenty-seven.  Her  face  showed,  at  the 
first  glance,  that  she  was  one  of  those  unfortunate  creatures  whom 


REPRESENTATIVE    NEGRO   ANECDOTES.  547 

some  savages  regard  with  a  kind  of  religious  awe,  and  whom  civ- 
ilized beings  are  accustomed  to  consider  peculiarly  entitled  to  ten- 
derness and  forbearance.  She  was  simple-minded.  Not  absolutely 
an  idiot,  but  imbecile,  vacant,  half  silly. 

"  Look  here,  General,"  said  Major  Strong,  as  he  opened  the  dress 
of  this  poor  creature. 

Her  back  was  cut  to  pieces  with  the  infernal  cowhide.  It  was 
all  black  and  red — red  where  the  infernal  instrument  of  torture  had 
broken  the  skin,  black  where  it  had  not.  To  convey  an  idea  of  its 
appearance,  General  Strong  used  to  say  that  it  resembled  a  very 
rare  beefsteak,  with  the  black  marks  of  the  gridiron  across  it. 

No  one  ever  saw  General  Butler  so  profoundly  moved  as  he  was 
while  gazing  upon  this  pitiable  spectacle. 

"  Who  did  this  ?"  he  asked  the  girl. 

"  Master,"  she  replied. 

"  Who  is  your  master  ?" 

"Mr.  Landry." 

Landry  was  a  respectable  merchant  living  near  head-quarters,  not 
unknown  to  the  members  of  the  staff. 

"  What  did  he  do  it  for  ?"  asked  the  general. 

"  I  went  out  after  the  clothes  from  the  wash,"  said  she,  u  and  I 
stayed  out  late.  When  I  came  home,  master  kicked  me  and  said  he 
would  teach  me  to  run  away." 

"  Orderly,  go  to  Landry's  house  and  bring  him  before  me." 

In  a  few  minutes,  Landry  entered  the  office — a  spare,  tall,  gentle- 
manlike person  of  fifty-five. 

"  Mr.  Landry,"  said  the  general,  "  this  is  infamous.  The  girl  is 
evidently  simple.  It  is  the  awfulest  spectacle  I  ever  beheld  in  my 
life." 

At  this  moment  Major  Strong  whispered  in  the  general's  ear  a 
piece  of  information  which  caused  him  to  compare  the  faces  of  the 
master  and  the  slave.    The  resemblance  between  them  was  striking. 

"  Is  this  woman  your  daughter  ?"  asked  the  general. 

"  There  are  reports  to  that  effect,"  said  Landry. 

The  insolent  nonchalance  of  the  man,  as  he  replied  to  the  last 
question,  so  inflamed  the  rage  of  all  who  witnessed  it,  that  it  need- 
ed but  a  wink  from  the  general  to  set  a  dozen  infuriated  men  at  his 
throat.    The  general  merely  said, 

"  I  am  answered,  sir." 


548  REPRESENTATIVE  NEGRO  ANECDOTES. 

The  general,  for  once,  seemed  deprived  of  his  power  to  judge 
with  promptness.  "He  remained  for  some  time,"  says  an  eye- 
witness, "  apparently  lost  in  abstraction.  I  shall  never  forget  the 
singular  expression  on  his  face. 

u  I  had  been  accustomed  to  see  him  in  a  storm  of  passion  at 
any  instance  of  oppression  or  flagrant  injustice;  but  on  this 
occasion  he  was  too  deeply  affected  to  obtain  relief  in  the  usual 
way. 

"  His  whole  air  was  one  of  dejection,  almost  listlessness ;  his  in- 
dignation too  intense,  and  his  anger  too  stern,  to  find  expression 
even  in  his  countenance. 

"  Never  have  I  seen  that  peculiar  look  but  on  three  or  four  occa- 
sions similar  to  the  one  I  am  narrating,  when  I  knew  he  was  pon- 
dering upon  the  baleful  curse  that  had  cast  its  withering  blight 
upon  all  around,  until  the  manhood  and  humanity  were  crushed  out 
of  the  people,  and  outrages  such  as  the  above  were  looked  upon 
with  complacency,  and  the  perpetrators  treated  as  respected  and 
worthy  citizens, — and  that  he  was  realizing  the  great  truth,  that, 
however  man  might  endeavor  to  guide  this  war  to  the  advantage 
of  a  favorite  idea  or  sagacious  policy,  the  Almighty  was  directing 
it  surely  and  steadily  for  the  purification  of  our  country  from  this 
greatest  of  national  sins. 

"  After  sitting  in  the  mood  which  I  have  described,  the  general 
again  turned  to  the  prisoner,  and  said,  in  a  quiet,  subdued  tone  of 
voice : 

" '  Mr.  Landry,  I  dare  not  trust  myself  to  decide  to-day  what  pun- 
ishment would  be  meet  for  your  offense,  for  I  am  in  that  state  of 
mind  that  I  fear  I  might  exceed  the  strict  demands  of  justice.  I 
shall,  therefore,  place  you  under  guard  for  the  present,  until  I  con- 
clude upon  your  sentence.'  "* 

The  next  morning,  came  troops  of  Landry's  friends  to  tell  the 
general  what  an  honorable,  what  a  "high-toned,"  what  an  amiable 
gentleman  Mr.  Landry  was,  and  how  highly  he  was  respected  by 
all  who  knew  him.  They  said  that  he  had  had  his  losses ;  the  war 
had  half  ruined  him ;  his  friends  had  observed  that  he  had  been 
irritable  of  late,  poor  man ;  and  no  doubt,  he  had  struck  his  daugh- 
ter harder  than  he  intended.     His  wife  and  his  other  children  came 

*  Atlantic  Monthly,  July,  lS6a 


REPRESENTATIVE   NEGRO    ANECDOTES.  549 

to  plead  for  him.  A  legal  gentleman  appeared,  also,  to  do  what 
was  possible  for  him  in  the  way  of  argument. 

General  Butler  decided  the  case  thus :  Landry  should  give  his 
daughter  her  freedom,  and  settle  upon  her  a  thousand  dollars. 

Being  in  mortal  terror  of  Fort  Jackson,  he  gladly  complied  with 
these  terms.  The  poor  girl  went  forth  that  day  a  free  woman,  and 
a  trustee  was  appointed  to  administer  her  little  fortune  and  see  that 
no  farther  harm  befell  her. 

It  was  a  light  penalty  for  such  a  crime.  I  wish  the  general  had 
treated  the  case  d  la  Wellington — rung  for  three  poles  and  a  rope, 
and  had  the  wretch  hanged,  that  Sunday  morning,  in  the  nearest 
public  square.  God  and  man  would  have  applauded  the  deed,  and 
there  would  have  been  no  more  woman-whipping  in  New  Orleans 
while  the  flag  of  the  United  States  floated  over  the  Custom-House. 

I  close  this  chapter  of  horrors.  Each  of  these  anecdotes  illus- 
trates one  phase  of  the  accursed  thing,  and  all  of  them  tend  to 
show  what  has  been  already  remarked,  that  the  worst  consequen- 
ces of  slavery  fall  upon  the  white  race.  It  is  better  to  be  murdered 
than  to  be  a  murderer.  It  is  better  to  be  the  victim  of  cruelty  than 
to  be  capable  of  inflicting  it.  Mrs.  Kemble  judges  rightly,  when 
she  says,  in  her  recent  noble  and  well-timed  work,  that  it  were  far 
preferable  to  be  a  slave  upon  a  Georgian  rice  plantation  than  to  be 
the  lord  of  one,  with  all  that  weight  of  crime  upon  the  soul  which 
slavery  necessitates,  and  to  become  so  completely  depraved  as  to 
be  able  to  contemplate  so  much  suffering  and  iniquity  with  stolid 
indifference. 

These  scenes  sank  deeply  into  the  hunker  mind.  General  But- 
ler, as  he  himself  remarks,  is  not  a  man  of  the  cast  of  character 
which  we  call  humanitarian.  A  person  of  very  great  executive 
force  never  is,  for  nature  does  not  bestow  all  her  good  gifts  upon 
any  individual.  To  his  own  circle  of  friends  he  would  be  more 
than  generous ;  he  makes  their  cause  his  own ;  he  is  faithful  to 
them  imto  death,  and  after  death.  He  was  not  satisfied  to  get  for 
jor  Strong  a  commission  as  brigadier-general,  nor  satisfied  to 
come  two  hundred  miles  to  attend  his  funeral ;  but  he  took  care  of 
his  fame  also,  writing  with  his  own  hand  the  history  of  his  career 
for  the  press,  and  correcting  errors  and  supplying  omissions  in  the 
eulogies  penned  by  others.     Still,  he  is  not,  in  the  modern  sense  of 


550  REPRESENTATIVE  NEGRO  ANECDOTES. 

the  term,  a  "  philanthropist."  He  loves  men  more  than  he  loves 
man.  But  a  woman's  bleeding  back,  the  master's  brutal  insensi- 
bility, the  absolute  destruction  in  the  character  of  slave-owners  of 
all  that  redeems  human  nature,  such  as  sense  of  truth,  pity  for  the 
helpless,  regard  for  the  sanctities  of  domestic  life  ;  the  flighty  infe- 
riority of  their  minds,  their  stupid  improvidence,  their  incurable 
wrong-headedness  and  wrong-heartedness,  their  childish  vanity  and 
shameful  ignorance,  their  boastful  emptiness  and  contempt  for  all 
people  and  nations  more  enlightened  than  themselves ;  these  things 
appealed  to  him,  these  things  he  marked  and  inwardly  digested. 
Impatient  as  he  had  previously  been  at  the  slow  progress  of  the 
war,  he  now  became  more  reconciled  to  it,  because  he  saw  that 
every  month  of  its  continuance  made  the  doom  of  slavery  more 
certain  and  more  speedy.  He  was  now  perfectly  aware  that  the 
United  States  could  never  realize  General  Washington's  modest 
aspiration,  that  it  might  become  "  a  respectable  nation,"  much  less 
a  great  and  glorious  one,  nor  even  a  nation  homogeneous  enough  to 
be  truly  powerful,  until  slavery  had  ceased  to  exist  in  every  part 
of  it. 

Those  who  lived  on  intimate  relations  with  the  general,  remarked 
his  growing  abhorrence  of  slavery.  During  the  first  weeks  of  the 
occupation  of  the  city,  he  was  occasionally  capable,  in  the  hurry  of 
indorsing  a  peck  of  letters,  of  spelling  negro  with  two  g's.  Not  so 
in  the  later  months.  Not  so  when  he  had  seen  the  torn  and  bleed 
ing  and  blackened  backs  of  fair  and  delicate  women.  Not  so  when 
he  had  reviewed  his  noble  colored  regiments.  Not  so  when  he 
had  learned  that  the  negroes  of  the  South  were  among  the  heaven- 
destined  means  of  restoring  the  integrity,  the  power,  and  the  splen- 
dor of  his  country.  Not  so  when  he  had  learned  how  the  oppres- 
sion of  the  negroes  had  extinguished  in  the  white  race  almost  every 
trait  of  character  which  redeems  and  sanctifies  human  nature. 

"  God  Almighty  himself  is  doing  it,"  he  would  say,  when  talking 
on  this  subject.  "  No  man's  hand  can  stay  it.  It  is  no  other  than 
the  omnipotent  God  who  has  taken  this  mode  of  destroying  slavery. 
We  are  but  the  instruments  in  his  hands.  We  could  not  prevent 
it  if  we  would.  And  let  us  strive  as  we  might,  the  judicial  blind- 
ness of  the  rebels  would  do  the  work  of  God  without  our  aid,  and 
in  spite  of  all  our  endeavors  against  it." 

Amen! 


MILITARY    OPERATIONS.  551 


CHAPTER  XXX, 

MILITARY   OPERATIONS. 

General  McClellan's  orders  to  the  commander  of  the  depart- 
ment of  the  gulf  directed  him,  first,  and  before  all  other  objects^ 
to  hold  New  Orleans.  To  that  everything  was  to  be  sacrificed. 
Next,  he  was  to  seize  and  hold  all  the  approaches  to  the  city, 
above  and  below,  on  the  east  and  on  the  west,  which  included  the 
seizure  of  all  the  railroads  and  railroad  property  in  the  vicinity. 
He  was  farther  directed  to  co-operate  with  the  navy  in  an  attack 
upon  Mobile,  and,  if  possible,  to  threaten  Pensacola  and  Galveston. 
General  McClellan  added  that  it  was  the  design  of  the  government 
to  send  re-enforcements  sufficient  for  the  accomplishment  of  all  these 
purposes,  as  well  as  more  detailed  instructions.  Circumstances 
prevented  the  sending  of  re-enforcements,  as  we  have  seen.  Nor 
were  particular  orders  respecting  military  movements  forwarded, 
except  that  the  attack  upon  Mobile  should  be  postponed  until  the 
completion  of  some  of  the  monitors.  Whatever  General  Butler 
accomplished  in  his  department  was  done  by  the  force  he  brought 
with  him,  and  the  regiments  which  he  raised  in  New  Orleans. 

All  the  objects  of  the  expedition  named  in  the  orders  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief were  accomplished  except  two.  One  of  these  was 
the  reduction  of  Mobile,  which  was  countermanded.  The  other 
was  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi,  above  Baton  Rouge,  which 
was  attempted,  but  found  impossible  without  a  very  large  increase 
of  force.     Let  us  dispose  of  that  matter  first. 

Attempt  to  Open  the  Mississippi. 

The  troops  were  no  sooner  posted  around  the  city  than  General 
Butler  began  to  prepare  an  expedition  to  ascend  the  river,  to  occu- 
py Baton  Rouge,  and  reconnoiter  Yicksburg,  which  was  then 
looming  up  as  the  most  formidable  obstacle  which  the  enemy  had 
yet  interposed  to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  Port  Hud- 
son had  not  then  been  fortified.  Later  in  the  year  General  Butler 
had  the  pain  and  mortification  of  seeing  the  batteries  of  Port  Hud- 
son rising  and  strengthening  daily,  he  powerless  to  prevent  it.    He 


552  MILITARY    OPERATIONS. 

gave  early  warning  respecting  this  new  position  to  the  govern- 
ment. Two  monitors  and  five  thousand  men,  he  said,  could  take 
the  place  in  October,  1862,  which  a  whole  fleet  and  a  large  army 
might  not  be  able  to  reduce  six  months  later.  The  requisite  force 
could  not  be  sent  in  time,  and  it  cost  many  thousands  of  precious 
lives  to  invest  it  in  the  summer  of  1863.  The  peninsular  losses 
paralyzed  the  powers  of  the  government  at  the  points  most  remote 
from  the  scene  of  those  tremendous  disasters,  and  nowhere  waa 
their  baleful  influence  more  manifest  than  in  the  southwest. 

To  procure  river  steamboats  for  transporting  the  troops  was  the 
first  difficulty.  The  rebels  had  wisely  burned  all  the  steamboats 
at  the  levee  of  the  city,  except  one  or  two  small  ones.  It  was 
known,  however,  that  many  boats  had  been  hidden  away  in  the 
bayous  of  the  Delta ;  and  hence  the  steamboat  hunting  to  which 
allusion  has  before  been  made.  Parties  of  troops  went  peering  and 
floundering  through  the  wooded  swamps  of  the  adjacent  country 
in  search  of  these  hidden  vessels.  The  gun-boats  of  the  navy 
cruised  for  the  same  purpose  along  the  borders  of  the  lakes,  and 
pushed  up  the  tortuous  streams  that  empty  into  them.  Several 
steamers  were  obtained  in  this  way,  which  the  unwilling  or  timid 
mechanics  of  New  Orleans  were  compelled  to  repair. 

The  most  noted  of  these  steamboat  hunts  was  one  achieved  by 
Colonel  Kinsman,  the  general's  volunteer  aid,  serving  then  without 
pay  or  rank.  Certain  information  was  obtained  that  two  of  the 
largest  steamboats  belonging  to  New  Orleans  had  been  taken  across 
Lake  Pontchartrain,  and  stowed  away  somewhere  in  one  of  its 
tributary  rivers.  The  naval  vessels  had  sought  for  them  in  vain  for 
several  days.  It  occurred  to  the  Yankee  intelligence  of  Colonel 
Kinsman  that  the  boats  must  have  been  taken  higher  up  one  of 
those  streams  than  a  gun-boat  could  navigate,  and  that  the  way  to 
find  them  was  to  penetrate  the  country  northward  for  several  miles, 
and  then  sweep  around  the  lake  from  one  river  to  another,  near  the 
head  of  possible  steamboat  navigation.  He  won  from  the  general 
a  reluctant  consent  to  this  perilous  enterprise.  A  steamboat  land- 
ed him  and  a  hundred  men  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Pontchar- 
train. They  marched  northward  through  a  dense  forest,  for  two 
or  three  days ;  then  turned  to  the  east,  exploring  all  the  streams, 
aided  only  by  the  compass  and  an  occasional  friendly  negro.  No 
traces  of  steamboats  were  discovered.     The  heat  was   intense  in 


MTTJTABY    OPERATIONS.  553 

those  dense  and  lofty  woods,  and  the  men  were  becoming  ex* 
hausted.  One  day,  when  the  troops  were  resting,  Colonel  Kinsman 
went  alone  on  the  line  of  march,  and  came  at  length  to  the  Pearl 
river,  a  stream  that  looked  capable  of  harboring  a  steamboat.  The 
men  were  brought  up,  and  the  exploration  began. 

At  last  they  had  caught  the  true  scent.  A  steamboat  of  the 
largest  size  was  discovered  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  with- 
out a  guard.  A  small  boat  floated  alongside  of  her,  and  ere  long  a 
man  appeared  on  deck.  This  was  the  critical  moment;  for  the 
man  could  have  applied  the  match,  set  the  vessel  on  fire,  and  easily 
escaped  into  the  forest.  Colonel  Kinsman  'took  a  musket  from  the 
hands  of  a  soldier,  and  ordered  the  man  to  bring  that  small  boat 
across  the  river.  He  obeyed.  In  ten  minutes  more  Colonel  Kins- 
man and  half  a  dozen  of  his  men  were  on  board  examining  the  prize. 
The  boiler  was  empty;  the  "packing"  of  the  engine  was  gone; 
parts  of  the  machinery  were  displaced,  and  others  were  wanting. 
But,  of  course,  among  a  hundred  Yankees  there  is  always  at  least 
one  man  who  knows  all  about  steam-engines.  The  needed  man  was 
there.  Under  his  directions  the  troops  worked  with  the  energy  of 
successful  hunters ;  the  packing  was  supplied ;  the  machinery  was 
put  in  order ;  fuel  was  collected.  The  most  laborious  part  of  the 
preparations  was  the  filling  of  the  boiler  by  means  of  pails.  Hour 
after  hour  the  men  dipped,  and  carried,  and  hoisted,  wondering 
at  the  slow  progress  of  the  work.  But  in  twelve  hours  after 
boarding  the  vessel  the  engineer  announced  that  she  was  ready  to 
move. 

Colonel  Kinsman,  meanwhile,  with  a  small  party,  and  an  impressed 
but  very  willing  negro  guide,  had  been  looking  for  the  other  steam- 
boat. A  remark  made  by  this  negro,  when  he  was  out  of  his  mas- 
ter's hearing,  greatly  amused  the  troops  : 

"Master  said  you  was  whipped  every  time;  but  you  corned 
nearer  and  nearer,  and  here  you  be." 

The  grinning  exultation  of  the  man,  as  he  said  these  words,  was 
in  the  highest  degree  comic.  The  troops  were  ready  to  drop  with 
heat  and  fatigue,  but  they  found  strength  to  make  the  woods  re- 
sound with  laughter  at  this  black  man's  epitome  of  the  war.  Colo- 
nel Kinsman  found  the  second  steamer,  but  she  was  far  inferior  to 
the  first,  and  was  so  securely  lodged,  that  he  feared  the  alarm  would 
call  down  upon  him  a  rescuing  party  if  he  should  attempt  to  bring 


554  MILITARY    OPERATIONS. 

away  both.  So  he  returned  to  the  larger  vessel,  and  all  the  troops 
slept  on  board  without  disturbance. 

The  greatest  difficulty  remained  to  be  overcome,  to  navigate  so 
large  a  boat  down  a  river  so  rapid,  narrow  and  crooked  as  the 
Pearl.  N^ne  of  the  party  had  ever  commanded  or  steered  a  steam- 
boat ;  none  of  them  had  ever  seen  the  Pearl  river  before  yesterday. 
But  were  they  not  Yankees  ?  Colonel  Kinsman  assumed  the  com- 
mand. The  boat  was  cast  off,  and  away  she  rushed  down  the  swift 
stream.  They  had  but  about  twenty  miles  to  go,  and  it  took  them 
all  day  to  accomplish  the  distance.  The  boat  grounded  oftener 
than  once  a  mile ;  sometimes  both  ends  were  fast  at  the  same  time ; 
sometimes  she  seemed  involved  in  the  mud  and  trees  beyond  ex- 
trication ;  sometimes  she  was  turned  completely  around  and  went 
stern  foremost  for  a  while.  The  yielding  nature  of  the  soil  saved 
her  from  destruction ;  and,  toward  the  close  of  the  day,  she  made 
her  way  to  the  lake,  and  hove  in  sight  of  a  gun-boat  which  had 
been  employed  for  a  week  in  searching  for  this  very  vessel.  The 
naval  officers  could  scarcely  hide  their  chagrin  at  being  outdone  on 
their  own  element  by  a  party  of  raw  recruits.  Moreover,  if  they 
had  taken  the  vessel,  there  would  have  been  forty  thousand  dollars 
of  prize-money  to  be  distributed  among  them. 

Colonel  Kinsman  and  his  party  were  welcomed  at  New  Orleans 
as  men  returned  from  the  grave.  General  Butler  renamed  the 
boat  the  Kinsman.  She  did  good  service  for  many  months,  and 
met,  at  length,  the  fate  of  steamboats  in  war  time ;  she  sank  to  the 
bottom  of  the  river  pierced  by  sixty  cannon  balls. 

A  few  steamers  being  thus  obtained,  General  Williams  and  his 
brigade,  convoyed  by  a  naval  force  under  Captain  Farragut,  went 
up  the  river  to  Baton  Rouge,  of  which  they  took  peaceable  pos- 
session. Captain  Farragut,  General  Williams  and  General  Weitzel 
surveyed  the  bluffs  upon  which  Yicksburg  stands.  They  found 
the  town  too  high  to  be  reached  by  guns  fired  from  the  river,  and 
too  powerfully  garrisoned  and  fortified  to  be  carried  by  assault  with 
less  than  ten  thousand  men.  Army  and  navy  were,  therefore, 
obliged  to  confess,  that  with  the  forces  then  in  the  department, 
Vicksburg  was  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  free  navigation  of 
the  river  which  could  not  be  overcome. 

This  opinion  being  communicated  to  General  Butler,  he  devoted 
the  spare  hours  of  a  week  to  the  study  of  the  position.     Maps, 


MILITARY    OPERATIONS.  555 

plans,  measurements,  natives  of  the  town,  engineer  officers,  and 
even  works  on  geology  were  duly  examined.  The  conception  of 
the  celebrated  cut-off  was  the  result  of  his  inquiries  and  cogita- 
tions. It  was  a  truly  ingenious  and  most  plausible  scheme.  Such 
a  canal  cut  across  almost  any  other  bend  of  the  river  would  have 
answered  the  purpose  intended.  But  nature  had  concealed  under 
the  soft  surface  of  that  particular  piece  of  land,  a  bed  of  tough  clay, 
which  baffled  the  project  of  diverting  the  course  of  the  river.  It 
happened,  also,  that  the  force  of  the  stream  at  that  point  tends  to 
the  opposite  shore,  and  could  not  be  persuaded  to  co-operate  effect- 
ually with  the  labors  of  the  canal-cutters.  Consequently  the 
Father  of  Waters  kept  to  his  ancient  bed,  and  Vicksburg  remained 
a  river  town.  For  a  long  time  General  Butler  lived  in  hopes  of 
sending  Vicksburg  a  few  miles  into  the  interior,  and  opening  the 
Mississippi  to  commerce ;  but  nature  had  taken  her  precautions, 
and  he  could  not  prevail. 

Governing  the  Troops. 

When  the  yellow  fever  season  was  approaching,  the  alarm 
among  the  officers  of  the  army  was  such,  that  it  amounted  at  times 
to  something  like  panic.  The  general  was  overwhelmed  with  re- 
quests for  leaves  of  absence ;  and  when  it  was  found  that  these 
were  only  granted  in  extreme  cases,  the  resigning  fever  broke  out 
and  raged  with  dangerous  violence.  The  manner  in  which  the 
general  met  this  new  difficulty,  which  threatened  to  deprive  him 
of  indispensable  officers,  was  characteristic  and  effectual.  Take  one 
scene  as  a  specimen  of  those  which  were  daily  enacted  at  head- 
quarters during  the  month  of  June. 

Enter,  a  bluff  rosy  lieutenant,  the  picture  of  robust  health,  bear- 
ing in  his  hand  a  doctor's  certificate,  which  declared  that  the  lieu- 
tenant could  not  live  thirty  days  longer  in  such  a  climate  as  that 
of  Louisiana.  The  general  looked  at  the  man  in  some  amaze- 
ment. 

"  You  see,  General,"  said  the  lieutenant,  "  that  the  surgeon  of 
my  regiment  says,  I  can't  live  thirty  days  in  ISTew  Orleans." 

"Do  you  think  so?"  asked  the  general,  looking  him  steadily  in 
the  face. 

"  Well,  General,"  replied  the  officer,  with  a  manifest  abatement 


556  MILITARY    OPERATIONS. 

of  confidence  in  his  cause,  "  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  the  surgeon  is 
right." 

"  I  propose  to  try  the  experiment,"  said  the  general.  UI  think 
you'll  live.  But  if  I  should  prove  wrong,  I'll  ask  the  surgeon's  par- 
don.    If  he  is  wrong,  lie  shall  apologize  to  me." 

The  officer  laughed  and  retired.  He  enjoyed  perfect  health 
all  the  summer;  with  the  additional  felicity  of  much  bantering 
on  his  unsuccessful  attempt  to  deprive  the  department  of  a  lieuten- 
ant. 

With  regard  to  the  resignations,  General  Butler,  at  once,  took 
the  ground,  that  to  resign  in  such  circumstances  was  precisely  as 
infamous  as  to  resign  in  presence  of  the  enemy.  The  yellow  fever 
was  the  enemy,  and  the  only  enemy  that  was  really  formidable  to 
the  troops  stationed  in  and  around  the  city.  Nevertheless,  a  few 
resignations  were  promptly  accepted ;  but  so  accepted  as  to  serve 
as  a  warning  to  other  officers  not  to  avail  themselves  of  that  mode 
of  escape.  On  the  letter  of  a  surgeon,  who  resigned  for  the  alleged 
reason  that  his  private  affairs  demanded  his  presence  at  home,  the 
following  words  were  written  by  the  general : 

"  This  application  will  be  forwarded  to  the  secretary  of  war,  with 
this  indorsement :  4  A  surgeon  who  would  make  his  private  and 
domestic  affairs  an  excuse  for  leaving  his  regiment,  and  exposing 
his  fellow-citizens  to  the  want  of  medical  attendance  at  this  season 
of  the  year — knowing  that  his  place  could  not  be  supplied  for 
months — deserves  to  be  cashiered  for  cowardice  or  neglect  of  duty. 
— B.  F.  B.' " 

This  indorsement  was  inserted  in  the  Delta  forthwith.  There 
were  not  many  resignations  afterward — none  of  surgeons.  I  notice, 
however,  a  few  more  of  those  terrible  "  indorsements."  Here  is 
another,  which  was  written  on  the  letter  of  an  officer,  who  assigned 
as  a  reason  for  resigning,  that  he  was  "  incompetent." 

"  This  officer  has  now  been  nine  months  in  the  service.  If,  in 
this  time,  he  has  just  learned  his  incompetency,  there  must  be  some- 
thing wrong  in  his  mental  or  moral  capacity.  I  believe  the  latter, 
and,  therefore,  he  is  dismissed  the  service,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  president.  If  incompetent,  he  has  done  the  United  States 
no  service,  but  much  harm,  and  is  entitled  to  no  pay." 

Another : 

"  Any  officer  who  makes  '  business  affairs'  a  reason  for  quitting 


MILITARY    OPERATIONS.  #  557 

the  service  at  this  juncture,  has  dishonored  himself,  and  should  be 
dishonorably  discharged,  as  is  done  in  the  case  of  Captain ." 

Another : 

"  Captain 's  resignation  is  accepted,  but  he  is  dishonorably 

discharged  from  the  service.  If  his  medical  certificate  is  true,  that 
he  has  been  suffering  for  five  years  under  the  disease  because  of 
which  he  now  leaves  the  service,  without  its  yielding  to  medical 
skill,  it  was  both  immoral  and  dishonorable  to  have  taken  the  com- 
mission." 

There  are  indorsements  of  another  character  upon  some  of  the 
applications  for  leave  of  absence  ;  as  witness  this,  upon  the  back  of 
an  application  for  a  short  leave  from  Lieutenant-Colonel  Keith,  of 
the  Twenty-first  Indiana. 

"Granted.  Colonel  Keith's  services  to  the  government  have 
been  most  valuable.  His  gallantry  and  courage  are  honorably 
mentioned." 

General  Butler's  care  of  the  health  of  the  troops  during  the  hot 
season  was  assiduous  and  wisely  directed.  Familiar  with  sanitary 
science,  he  was  able  to  give  explicit  and  effectual  orders  on  the  sub- 
ject, as  well  as  sound  advice  to  the  surgeons.  The  men  were 
required  to  wear  their  woolen  clothes  during  the  summer ;  to 
bathe  frequently  ;  to  avoid  sleeping  in  the  open  air ;  to  keep  their 
camps  religiously  clean ;  to  abstain  from  stimulating  food  and  drink ; 
to  avoid  needless  fatigue  and  exposure  to  the  sun. 

Observe  the  four  orders  that  follow,  particularly  the  last  para- 
graph of  the  second : 

"New  Oeleans,  June  3,  1862. 

"  I.  The  laundresses  of  companies  are  not  permitted  to  come  into  the 
quarters  of  the  men.  They  must  be  kept  in  their  own  quarters,  and  the 
clothing  sent  to  them  and  sent  for. 

"II.  Any  officer  who  permits  a  woman,  black  or  white,  not  his  wife, 
in  his  quarters,  or  the  quarters  of  his  company,  will  be  dismissed  the  ser- 


"New  Oeleans,  September  19,  1862. 
UI.  It  having  been  made  to  appear  to  the  commanding  general,  that 
upon  marches  and  expeditions,  soldiers  of  the  United  States  army  have  en- 
tered houses,  and  taken  therefrom  private  property,  and  appropriated  the 
same  to  their  own  use ; 


558  MILITARY   OPERATIONS. 

"It  is  therefore  ordered,  that  a  copy  of  General  Order  No.  107,  current 
series,  from  the  war  department,  be  distributed  to  every  commissioned 
officer  of  this  command,  and  that  the  same  be  read,  together  with  this  order, 
to  each  company  in  this  department  three  several  times  at  different  com- 
pany roll-calls. 

"  II.  It  is  farther  ordered,  that  all  complaints  that  private  property  has 
been  taken  from  peaceable  citizens,  in  contravention  of  said  General  Order 
No.  107,  be  submitted  to  a  board  of  survey,  and  that  the  amount  of  damage 
determined  shall  he  deducted  from  the  pay  of  the  officers  commanding 
the  troops  committing  the  outrage — in  proportion  to  their  rank." 

"New  Okleans,  November  11,  1862. 

"  I.  Any  commissioned  officer  who  is  found  drinking  intoxicating  liquors 
in  any  public  drinking-place  or  other  public  house  within  this  department, 
will  be  recommended  to  the  president  for  dismissal  from  the  service. 

"  II.  All  police-officers  are  ordered  to  report  in  writing  to  these  head- 
quarters all  instances  of  the  violation  of  this  order,  which  may  come  under 
their  notice." 

"New  Okleans,  July  8,  1862. 
"  The  acting  sutler  of  the  Twenty-sixth  regiment  of  Massachusetts  volun- 
teers will  be  sent  home  by  the  first  boat  as  a  steerage  passenger  to  New 
York  ;  in  the  mean  time,  to  be  kept  in  close  confinement. 
-    "  He  has  been  engaged  in  selling  liquors  to  the  soldiers,  and  speculating 
upon  the  flour  belonging  to  the  United  States. 

"  The  provost-marshal  will  see  to  the  execution  of  this  order. 

"  By  order  of  Major-General  Btjtleb, 

"  K.  S.  Davies,  Captain  and  A.  A.  A.  G." 

Another  special  order  may  be  quoted  in  this  connection :  "  First 
Lieutenant  T.  L.  Lynch,  quartermaster  of  Third  regiment  of  Na- 
tive Guards  (colored),  is  hereby  reduced  to  his  former  position 
as  private  in  the  Fifteenth  Maine  volunteers,  for  drunkenness  in 
the  streets,  and  in  a  public  dance-house.  Quartermaster  Sergeant 
Henry  C.  Wright,  Ninth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  is  hereby  ap- 
pointed first  lieutenant  of  the  Third  Native  Guards,  vice  Lynch, 
reduced  to  the  ranks." 

Discipline  thus  administered  produces  but  one  result.  "The 
demeanor  of  our  soldiers  in  New  Orleans,"  remarks  one  disinter- 
ested observer,  "  entitles  them  to  the  highest  encomiums.  A  more 
quiet,  orderly,  respectable  set  of  private  soldiers  no  army  ever 
contained.     Instances  of  rowdyism  and  intoxication  are  extremely 


3nLITARY    OPERATIONS.  559 

rare,  and  those  few  which  do  occur  are  promptly  and  severely  pun- 
ished by  deprivation  of  pay  and  imprisonment.  Most  of  the 
troops  here  are  of  New  England  origin,  and  certainly  they  do 
credit  to  the  land  of  their  birth."  Nor  can  we  be  surprised  to 
read  in  the  Delta,  that  after  one  pay  day,  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars  were  sent  home  in  small  packages,  besides  a  very  large  sum 
under  the  allotment  system. 

The  general  himself  noticed  the  behavior  of  the  troops  in  a 
special  order  of  June  14th: 

"  Soldiers !  Your  behavior  in  New  Orleans  has  been  admirable ! 
Withstanding  the  temptations  of  a  great  city,  to  present  such  dis- 
cipline and  efficiency  is  the  highest  exhibition  of  soldierly  qualities. 
You  have  done  more  than  win  a  great  battle ;  you  have  conquered 
yourselves.  You  have  convinced  the  people  of  New  Orleans  that 
you  are  worthy  of  the  flag  you  bear  in  triumph !  He  is  more  of  a 
coward  who  yields  to  his  own  weakness,  than  he  who  surrenders 
to  an  enemy !  Go  on,  as  you  have  begun,  true  to  your  New  Eng- 
land training  and  her  religious  influences,  showing  the  men  and 
women  of  the  South  that  where  our  bayonets  are,  there  are  peace, 
quiet,  liberty,  safety,  and  order  under  the  law !" 

The  devotion  of  officers  and  men  to  a  general  who  took  their 
part  so  well  against  all  enemies,  was  remarkable.  Many  affecting 
proofs  of  this  devotion  could  be  adduced,  but  the  growing  bulk  of 
my  manuscript  warns  me  to  omit  details  that  are  not  essential.  I 
will  transcribe  one  paragraph  from  a  letter  written  by  a  father  upon 
hearing  that  his  son,  a  fine  young  officer,  had  fallen  at  his  post : 

"  Now  that  all  is  over,  let  me  say  that  Henry  loved  you,  General; 
not  with  the  selfish  attachment  of  the  recipient  and  expectant  of 
favors,  but  with  the  devotion  that  one  manly  heart  feels  for  another. 
He  would  have  died  for  you,  as  he  would  for  me,  or  for  his  mother. 
I  am  nothing  worth  now,  if  I  ever  was ;  but,  to  the  end  of  my 
days,  few  or  many,  and  sorrowful  they  must  be,  I  shall  remember 
your  kindness  to  my  poor  boy  with  the  deepest  gratitude." 

General  Butler's  Mode  of  Dealing  with  Guerillas. 

Before  noticing  the  important  military  events  of  the  campaign, 
we  should  consider  one  of  the  commanding  general's  negative  merits. 
He  did  not  conquer  more  country  than  he  could  hold.     The  reason 


560  MILITARY   OPERATIONS. 

of  this  caution  in  an  officer  so  enterprising  and  so  prolific  of  ideas, 
was  stated  by  himself  in  an  early  dispatch  to  the  war  department. 

"  In  the  present  temper  of  the  country  here,"  wrote  Gen.  Butler, 
June  1st,  "it  is  cruel  to  take  possession  of  any  point  unless  we 
continue  to  hold  it  with  an  armed  force ;  because,  when  we  take 
possession  of  any  place  those  well  disposed  will  show  us  kindness 
and  good  wishes ;  the  moment  we  leave,  a  few  ruffians  come  in 
and  maltreat  every  person  who  has  not  scowled  at  the  Yankees. 
Therefore  it  is,  that  I  have  been  very  chary  of  possessing  myself 
of  various  small  points  which  could  easily  be  taken.  *  *  *  * 
What  I  would  recommend  is,  that  I  be  allowed  to  raise  here,  or 
have  sent  me,  a  force  large  enough  to  hold,  by  armed  occupation, 
every  place  of  the  slightest  importance,  with  a  supporting  force 
that  could  not  be  overcome,  and  the  country  made  to  pay  the  ex- 
pense of  such  occupation.  A  few  months  under  that  regime  would 
reduce  the  people  to  order,  and  assure  the  Union  men  that  they  are 
not  to  be  given  up  to  rapine  and  murder  in  a  few  days,  by  the  re- 
tirement of  our  troops.  In  their  present  frame  of  mind,  under  the 
pressure  of  the  orders  of  Gen.  Lovell  and  the  Confederate  govern- 
ment— to  burn  all  the  cotton  and  sugar — such  burning  will  take 
place  in  advance  of  my  march,  wherever  I  may  move,  entailing 
great  destruction  of  property  upon  its  innocent  owners,  who,  with 
tears  in  their  eyes,  have  entreated  me  not  to  advance  into  certain 
sections  of  the  country  lest  their  property  should  be  burned ! 

"  As  an  instance  of  recklessness  of  troops  in  arms,  take  the  fol- 
lowing :  The  river  has  been  unusually  high,  and  a  crevasse  opened 
at  certain  points  would  do  an  immensity  of  damage.  A  party  of 
forty  rebels  surprised  the  train  on  the  Opelousas  railroad,  ran  down 
to  within  thirteen  miles  of  the  city  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river, 
and  there  deliberately  cut  the  levee  in  six  different  places.  If  their 
design  had  been  carried  out,  they  would  have  drowned  out  every 
plantation  between  New  Orleans  and  Fort  Jackson,  seventy  miles, 
but  not  injured  the  United  States  ;  all  this  was  done,  because  the 
planters  were  supposed  to  favor  us.  Prompt  measures  were  taken 
by  me  to  prevent  the  injury  before  it  became  irreparable,  which 
proved  successful." 

For  these  reasons,  the  active  operations  of  the  army  were  con- 
fined, at  first,  to  sudden  incursions  into  the  enemy's  country,  either 
for  the  purpose  of  rescuing  Union  men,  who  were  threatened  by 


MILITARY    OPERATIONS.  561 

their  neighbors  with  destruction,  or  of  breaking  up  camps  and  rov- 
ing gangs  of  guerillas.  The  guerillas  were  numerous,  enterprising, 
and  wholly  devoid  of  every  kind  of  scruple.  They  made  war  pre- 
cisely in  the  spirit  and  in  the  manner  of  the  band  of  murderers  who 
recently  butchered  the  unresisting  business  men  of  Lawrence.  At 
that  time,  too,  an  act  of  congress  restrained  the  commanders  of  de- 
partments from  retaliation  upon  these  miscreants.  "  It  is  useless," 
wrote  General  Butler,  "  to  tell  me  to  try  them,  send  the  record  to 
Washington,  and  then  to  shoot  them  if  the  record  is  approved. 
Events  travel  altogether  too  rapidly  for  that.  In  the  mean  time,  they 
hang  every  Union  man  they  catch,  and  by  their  proclamations,  they 
threaten  to  hang  every  man  who  has  my  pass.  All  this,  while 
they  are  prating  in  their  papers,  and  by  the  message  of  Davis,  about 
carrying  on  a  civilized  warfare." 

The  first  dash  into  the  inhabited  country  was  made  by  Colonel 
Kinsman,  who  went  fifty  miles  or  more  up  the  Opelousas  railroad, 
to  bring  away  the  families  of  some  Union  men  who  had  fled  to  the 
city,  asking  protection.  He  crossed  the  river  to  Algiers,  and  took 
possession  of  the  depot  and  cars.  He  inquired  of  the  bystanders 
where  the  engineers  were  to  be  found.  "  There  goes  one,"  a  man 
replied.  Colonel  Kinsman  hailed  him,  and  he  approached.  A 
conversation  ensued,  which  showed  something  of  the  quality  of  the 
more  demonstrative  secesh.  Indeed,  I  allude  to  Colonel  Kinsman's 
excursion,  only  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  this  model  of  a  seces- 
sionist engineer  to  the  admiration  of  his  countrymen. 

"  Are  you  an  engineer  ?"  asked  Colonel  Kinsman. 

"  Yes." 

"  Do  you  run  on  this  road  ?" 

"  Yes." 

"  How  long  have  you  been  on  the  road  ?" 

"  Six  years." 

"  I  want  you  to  run  a  train  of  cars  for  me  ?" 

"  I  won't  run  a  train  for  any  damned  Yankee." 

"  Yes,  you  will." 

"  No,  I  won't." 

"  You  will,  and  without  the  slightest  accident,  too." 

"I'll  die  first," 

"Precisely.  You  have  stated  the  exact  alternative.  The  first 
thing  that  goes  wrong,  you're  a  dead  man.  So  march  along  with  us." 


562  MILITAEY   OPEEATIONS. 

The  man  obeyed.  Upon  getting  ont  of  hearing  of  his  towns- 
men, he  appeared  more  pliant,  and  the  conversation  was  resumed. 

"  What  is  your  name  ?" 

"Pierce." 

"  Pierce  ?  why  that  is  a  Yankee  name.    Where  were  you  born  ?" 

"In  Boston." 

"  Are  you  married  ?" 

"Yes." 

"  Where  was  your  wife  born  ?" 

"  At  East  Cambridge." 

"  How  long  have  you  been  in  the  South  ?" 

"  About  six  years." 

."And  you  are  the  man  who  wouldn't  run  a  train  for  a  damned 
Yankee !  You  are,  indeed,  a  damned  Yankee.  Go  home,  and  see 
that  you  are  promptly  on  hand  to-morrow  morning." 

He  was  promptly  on  hand  in  the  morning,  ready  to  run  the  train 
for  his  condemned  countrymen.  But  as  competent  engineers  were 
found  among  the  troops,  it  was  thought  best  not  to  risk  the  success 
of  the  expedition  by  trusting  the  renegade,  and  the  objects  of  the 
party  were  accomplished  without  his  aid.  The  train  ran  through 
the  Lafourche  district,  the  garden  of  Louisiana,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  Colonel  Kinsman  found  to  be  fierce,  uncompromising  foes  of 
the  United  States.  At  the  city  of  Lafourche  he  met  the  leading 
men  of  the  district,  face  to  face,  at  the  court-house. 

"  We  are  united  as  one  man  against  you,"  said  the  spokesman  of 
the  party. 

"I  care  not,"  responded  Colonel  Kinsman,  "how  united  you 
are,  or  against  what  you  are  united ;  I  have  only  this  to  say  to  you, 
that  if  one  more  Union  man  is  harmed  in  Lafourche,  the  town  will 
be  burned  to  the  last  shed." 

They  could  not  disguise  their  astonishment  at  the  spectacle  of  a 
hundred  Union  troops  penetrating  a  region  so  populous  with  ene- 
mies. It  was  something  they  had  not  in  the  least  expected.  They 
were  destined,  however,  to  become  extremely  familiar  with  the 
dingy  blue  of  the  federal  uniform. 

The  case  of  this  Yankee  engineer  was  very  far  from  being  the 
only  instance  of  the  kind.  As  a  rule,  the  loudest  secessionists  in 
Louisiana  were  people  of  northern  birth  and  education.  Several  of 
rhe  female  teachers  in  the  public  schools  in  New  Orleans,  who  were 


MILITARY    OPERATIONS.  563 

among  the  most  zealous  in  teaching  their  pupils  to  chant  the  songs 
of  Secessia,  and  to  insult  the  soldiers  of  the  Union  in  the  streets, 
were  found  to  be  natives  of  New  England.  The  fact  shows  how 
exquisitely  adapted  the  system  of  slavery  is  to  evoke  the  latent 
baseness  of  the  weak,  the  vain,  and  the  unregenerate.  It  is,  also, 
another  proof  that  renegades  are  necessarily  more  zealous  than  the 
hereditary  adherents  of  a  bad  cause. 

The  dash  of  Colonel  John  C.  Keith,  of  the  Twenty-first  Indiana, 
into  the  same  Lafourche,  was  a  most  brilliant  little  affair.  He  gave 
a  lesson  to  guerillas  which  Lafourche  will  never  forget.  He  gave  a 
hint  to  guerilla  hunters  which,  when  it  is  universally  taken,  will 
soon  extinguish  the  last  of  those  savages. 

In  the  course  of  the  famous  hunt  after  the  steamer  Fox,  by  Colonel 
M'Millan,  a  party  of  four  sick  soldiers  had  been  sent  back  through 
the  Lafourche  country.  A  gang  of  guerillas,  inhabitants  of  the 
district,  lay  in  ambush  near  the  road,  fired  into  the  wagons  in  which 
the  sick  men  lay,  killed  two  of  them  and  wounded  two.  The  bodies 
of  the  murdered  men  were  stripped,  then  kicked  and  clubbed  until 
they  had  lost  almost  all  resemblance  to  human  bodies,  and,  finally, 
thrown  by  some  negroes  into  a  hole  two  feet  deep,  dug  in  the  very 
public  square  of  the  town  of  Houma.  The  mound  of  earth  heaped 
over  them  was  conspicuous  to  all  residents  and  travelers.  One  of 
the  wounded  men,  after  almost  incredible  adventures,  escaped. 
The  other  was  thrown  into  a  filthy  calaboose  at  Houma  with  a  ne- 
gro convict. 

General  Butler  sent  Colonel  Keith,  with  four  companies  of  his 
regiment,  and  two  pieces  of  Massachusetts  artillery,  to  convey  to 
the  people  of  Houma  his  sense  of  the  moral  quality  of  their  acts. 
He  ordered  Colonel  Keith  to  use  his  best  endeavors  to  arrest  the 
perpetrators ;  to  hang  them  if  found ;  to  arrest  the  jibettors  of  the 
butchery ;  and  to  confiscate  or  destroy  the  property  of  every  man 
who,  in  any  way,  before  or  after  the  deed,  had  been  a  participator 
in  the  crime. 

Colonel  Keith  was  the  very  man  for  this  duty.  Seldom,  in  the 
annals  of  warfare,  do  we  find  an  account  of  a  piece  of  work  better 
done.  On  arriving  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town,  he  arrested  every 
man  that  could  be  found.  Having  reached  Houma,  he  discovered 
that  most  of  the  inhabitants  had  fled,  but  all  the  men  that  remained 
he  seized  and  securely  held.  He  compelled  the  leading  residents 
J-i* 


564  MILITARY    OPERATIONS.  I 

of  the  place  to  provide  suitable  coffins  for  the  murdered  soldiers, 
to  disinter  them  with  their  own  hands,  to  place  them  in  the  coffins, 
and  to  dig  graves  for  them  in  the  principal  church-yard.  The  bodies 
were  then  borne  to  the  Catholic  church,  where  Lieutenant  Rose 
read  over  them  the  burial  service,  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  com- 
mand. They  were  buried  with  the  usual  salute,  and  suitable  in- 
scriptions were  placed  over  their  graves. 

This  pious  duty  being  performed,  Colonel  Keith  demanded  of  his 
prisoners  a  complete  list  of  the  names  of  the  men  who  had  partici- 
pated in  the  ambush  and  abused  the  bodies  of  the  two  soldiers. 

They  refused.  He  then  gave  them  formal,  written  notice,  that, 
unless  within  the  next  forty-eight  hours  the  names  were  disclosed, 
he  would  burn  and  utterly  destroy  the  town  of  Houma,  lay  wraste 
all  the  plantations  in  the  vicinity,  and  confiscate  all  the  movable 
property  to  the  United  States. 

The  prisoners  being  left  to  their  reflections,  soon  came  to  terms. 
They  sent  for  Colonel  Keith,  gave  up  the  names  of  the  murderers, 
and  furnished  information  as  to  the  direction  of  their  flight.  Then 
ensued,  for  several  days  and  nights,  such  a  scouring  of  the  country 
for  the  fugitives  as  Lafourche  had  never  known  before.  They  were 
traced  from  plantation  to  plantation,  from  the  open  country  to  the 
forest,  through  the  forest  to  the  bayou.  The  pursuers  found  the 
planters  haughty  and  defiant.  Several  of  them  boasted  that  they 
had  harbored  the  fugitives  and  helped  them  to  escape,  and  refused 
to  reveal  the  direction  they  had  taken.  There  were  five  of  these 
gentlemen.  Colonel  Keith  swiftly  doomed  them  to  the  penalty  of 
participators  after  the  fact.  Their  houses,  barns,  shops  and  sta- 
bles were  burned;  their  horses,  mules  and  cattle  driven  away; 
their  persons  seized  and  conveyed  to  New  Orleans. 

The  ringleaders  of  the  ambush  contrived  to  elude  the  pursuit ; 
but  several  of  the  less  guilty  participants  were  arrested.  Before 
leaving  Houma,  Colonel  Keith  caused  the  jail  into  which  the 
wounded  soldier  had  been  thrown,  to  be  leveled  to  the  ground  by 
battering-rams.  He  hoisted  the  flag  of  the  United  States  upon  the 
court-house,  and  announced  to  the  assembled  people  that  its  removal 
would  be  the  signal  of  his  return  to  burn  the  town.  He  made  a 
requisition  upon  the  authorities  for  a  sum  of  money  to  defray  part 
of  the  expenses  of  the  expedition.  Finally,  he  heaped  burning  coals 
upon  the  sore  heads  of  the  residents  of  Houma  by  distributing 


MILITARY    OPERATIONS.  565 

among  the  suffering  poor  of  the  town  a  considerable  quantity  of 
provisions,  and  leaving  behind  him  for  their  benefit  a  drove  of  con- 
fiscated cattle. 

That  is  General  Butler's  idea  of  guerilla  hunting.  The  highest 
praise  that  can  be  bestowed  upon  Colonel  Keith's  conduct  was  that 
vouchsafed  by  a  rebel  critic,  who  remarked  that  $£cith  was  little 
better  than  Butler  himself.  The  reader  now  knows  one  of  the  rea- 
sons why  Colonel  Keith's  application  for  leave  of  absence  was  so 
agreeably  indorsed  by  his  chief. 

The  command  of  the  lakes  gave  the  Union  forces  an  advantage 
over  the  guerillas  which  was  frequently  used  with  effect.  There 
was  a  troublesome  crew  of  guerillas  near  Manchac  pass,  at  the 
beginning  of  June,  who  plundered  the  neighboring  plantations. 
Colonel  Kimball,  of  the  Twelfth  Maine,  landed  four  companies  of 
his  regiment  in  the  vicinity,  and  pounced  upon  the  position,  driv- 
ing out  the  rebel  troops  and  capturing  all  their  camp  equipage, 
artillery,  and  colors,  as  well  as  a  general  officer,  with  his  valise  full 
of  Confederate  recruiting  money. 

New  Orleans  threatened. 

The  attention  of  the  commanding  general,  in  July,  was  drawn  to 
more  important  affairs  than  these.  Rebel  troops  were  concen- 
trating at  various  points  in  menacing  proximity  to  Baton  Rouge 
and  ISTew  Orleans.  Breckinridge,  the  general's  some  time  political 
chief,  now  appeared  in  the  field  as  his  principal  military  adversary. 
The  rebel  ram  Arkansas  was  reported  by  Captain  Porter  to  be 
"  above  water,"  and  capable  of  doing  mischief.  The  spies  of  the 
general  continually  reported  movements  of  rebel  troops,  and  every- 
thing betokened  that  the  project  of  expelling  the  "ruthless  in- 
vaders" was  about  to  be  attempted.  The  preliminary  stroke  was 
to  fall  upon  Baton  Rouge,  which  was  to  be  assailed  by  Breckin- 
ridge on  land,  and  by  the  ram  Arkansas  from  the  river.  The 
attack  was  made  on  the  5th  of  August.  The  country  well  remem- 
bers how  gallantly  it  was  repulsed  in  one  of  the  best  contested 
actions  of  the  war,  and  how  the  ram  Arkansas  ran  aground,  and 
was  shot  to  pieces  and  blown  up  by  the  Union  gun-boats.  I  need 
not  detail  the  story  of  that  memorable  day  ;  but  there  were  some 


566  MILITARY    OPERATIONS. 

circumstances  attending  the  battle  not  generally  known,  which 
may  be  profitably  noted  by  military  men. 

The  papers  before  me  show  how  extremely  difficult  it  is  for  com- 
manding generals  to  procure  information  trustworthy  enough  to 
base  operations  upon.  Both  generals  were  deceived  on  this  occasion. 
General  Butler,  though  no  man  ever  had  a  better  spy  system  than 
he,  or  paid  more  liberally  for  intelligence,  was  misled  by  his  spies 
into  supposing  that  the  attack  had  been  deferred ;  and  he  wrote  to 
General  Williams  to  that  effect,  only  two  days  before  the  battle, 
exhorting  him,  however,  not  to  relax  his  vigilance.  General 
Breckinridge,  on  the  contrary,  was  deceived  by  intelligence  that 
was  perfectly  true.  The  secessionists  of  Baton  Rouge,  who  min 
gled  daily  with  the  Union  troops,  told  Breckinridge,  and  told  him 
truly,  that  more  than  one-half  of  the  troops  were  on  the  sick-list. 
They  told  him,  and  it  was  a  fact,  that  one  regiment,  six  hundred 
strong,  only  mustered  one  hundred  and  fifty  on  dress  parade,  and 
that  other  regiments  were  in  a  similar  condition.  But  they  did 
not  tell  him  that  those  patriotic  troops,  debilitated  by  the  summer 
heats,  and  too  sick  to  appear  on  the  parade-ground,  were  well 
enough  to  fight  a  battle  for  their  country.  They  did  not  tell  him 
that  that  very  regiment,  which  could  only  muster  a  hundred  and 
fifty  men  at  dress  parade,  would  turn  out  more  than  five  hundred 
on  the  day  of  battle.  He  expected  to  meet  skeleton  regiments  of 
skeleton  soldiers ;  he  met  regiments  with  full  ranks,  stanch  and 
steady.  His  friends  told  him  where  the  sick  regiments  were  to  be 
posted,  and  he  directed  his  main  attack  against  that  part  of  the 
field.  It  is  said  that  the  reason  why  he  threw  away  his  sword,  in 
a  paroxysm  of  disgust,  was  not  the  loss  of  the  battle,  but  a  con- 
viction that  he  had  been  deceived  and  betrayed  by  the  people  of 
Baton  Rouge.  His  sword  was  found  on  the  field  with  his  name 
engraved  on  the  hilt. 

The  death  of  General  Williams,  on  this  bloody  day,  was  a  griev- 
ous loss  to  the  department  and  the  country.  He  was  not  a  popular 
officer,  except  in  the  hour  of  danger.  The  rigor  of  his  discipline 
would  not  have  lessened  the  good- will  of  his  command  toward  him, 
for  soldiers  love  a  strict  disciplinarian.  Soldiers,  indeed,  will  never 
long  love  an  officer  who  is  not  inflexible  in  his  administration  of 
military  law.  But  the  manner  of  this  heroic  man  was  sometimes 
ungracious ;  and,  perhaps,  he  allowed  his  keen  sense  of  the  defects 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS.  567 

of  the  volunteer  system  to  be  too  manifest.  But  on  the  day  of 
battle  only  his  great  qualities  were  remembered,  and  every  soldier 
felt  that  what  General  Williams  ordered  to  be  done  was,  infallibly, 
the  movement  which  the  moment  required.  Toward  the  close  of 
the  engagement,  he  came  up  to  a  regiment  which  had  lost  every 
Held  officer,  and  a  large  number  of  the  company  officers. 

"  We  have  no  officers,  General,"  said  some  of  the  men. 

"  Forward !  my  brave  Indianians,"  he  cried :  "  I  will  lead  you 
myself." 

At  that  instant,  a  ball  pierced  his  breast,  and  he  fell  never  to  rise 
again. 

The  manner  in  which  General  Butler  commemorated  the  conduct 
of  his  victorious  troops  merits  the  attention  of  readers.  A  general 
order  was  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  General  Williams : 


"New  Orleans,  August  7,  1862. 

"  The  commanding  general  announces  to  the  army  of  the  gulf  the  sad 
event  of  the  death  of  Brigadier-General  Thomas  Williams,  commanding 
Second  brigade,  in  camp  at  Baton  Eouge. 

u  The  victorious  achievement — the  repulse  of  the  division  of  Major-Gen- 
eral  Breckinridge,  by  the  troops  led  on  by  General  Williams,  and  the  de- 
struction of  the  mail-clad  Arkansas,  by  Captain  Porter,  of  the  navy — is 
made  sorrowful  by  the  fall  of  our  brave,  gallant  and  successful  fellow- 
soldier. 

"  General  Williams  graduated  at  West  Point  in  1837  ;  at  once  joined  the 
Fourth  artillery  in  Florida,  where  he  served  with  distinction ;  was  thrice 
breveted  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  in  Mexico,  as  a  member  of 
General  Scott's  staff.  His  life  was  that  of  a  soldier  devoted  to  his  country's 
service.  His  country  mourns  in  sympathy  with  his  wife  and  children,  now 
that  country's  care  and  precious  charge. 

"  We,  his  companions  in  arms,  who  had  learned  to  love  him,  weep  the 
true  friend,  the  gallant  gentleman,  the  brave  soldier,  the  accomplished 
officer,  the  pure  patriot  and  victorious  hero,  and  the  devoted  Christian. 
All,  and  more,  went  out  when  Williams  died.  By  a  singular  felicity,  the 
manner  of  his  death  illustrated  each  of  these  generous  qualities. 

"  The  chivalric  American  gentleman,  he  gave  up  the  vantage  of  the  cover 
of  the  houses  of  the  city — forming  his  lines  in  the  open  field— lest  the  wo- 
men and  children  of  his  enemies  should  be  hurt  in  the  fight ! 

"  A  good  general,  he  made  his  dispositions  and  prepared  for  battle  at  the 
break  of  day,  when  he  met  his  foe ! 

"  A  brave  soldier,  he  received  his  death-shot  leading  his  men  I 


568  MILITAET    OPEEATIONS. 

"  A  patriot  hero,  he  was  fighting  the  battle  of  his  country,  and  died  as 
went  up  the  cheer  of  victory ! 

"  A  Christian,  he  sleeps  in  the  hope  of  a  blessed  Eedeemer ! 

"His  virtues  we  can  not  exceed — his  example  we  may  emulate;  and, 
mourning  his  death,  we  pray,  '  may  our  last  end  be  like  his.' 

u  The  customary  tribute  of  mourning  will  be  worn  by  the  officers  in  the 
department." 

The  funeral  was  celebrated  in  New  Orleans,  with  all  the  pomp 
and  solemnity  which  the  resources  of  the  department  permitted. 
General  Butler  noticed,  as  he  passed  the  British  consulate,  that  the 
flag  of  the  consulate  was  not  lowered  as  the  procession  moved  by. 
He  sent  to  know  why  the  customary  tribute  of  respect  had  been 
omitted.  Mr.  Coppell  explained  the  omission  satisfactorily  ;  he  was 
absent  from  his  office,  and  was  not  aware  that  the  funeral  was  to 
take  place  that  day. 

Another  general  order  was  issued  a  day  or  two  after  the  funeral, 
which  gave  a  characteristic  summary  of  the  fight. 

"New  Okleans,  August  9,  1862. 
•'  Soldiers  of  the  Army  of  the  Gulf : 

"  Your  successes  have  heretofore  been  substantially  bloodless. 

"  Taking  and  holding  the  most  important  strategic  and  commercial  posi 
tions  with  the  aid  of  the  gallant  navy,  by  the  wisdom  of  your  combinations 
and  the  moral  power  of  your  arms,  it  has  been  left  for  the  last  few  days  to 
baptize  you  in  blood. 

"  The  Spanish  conqueror  of  Mexico  won  imperishable  renown  by  landing 
in  that  country  and  burning  his  transport  ships,  to  cut  off  all  hope  of  re- 
treat. You,  more  wise  and  economical,  but  with  equal  providence  against 
retreat,  sent  yours  home. 

"  Organized  to  operate  on  the  sea-coast,  you  advanced  your  outposts  to 
Baton  Eouge,  the  capital  of  the  state  of  Louisiana,  more  than  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  into  the  interior. 

"  Attacked  there  by  a  division  of  our  rebel  enemies,  under  command  of  a 
major-general  recreant  to  loyal  Kentucky,  whom  some  of  us  would  have 
honored  before  his  apostasy,  of  doubly  superior  numbers,  you  have  repulsed 
in  the  open  field  his  myrmidons,  who  took  advantage  of  your  sickness,  from 
the  malaria  of  the  marshes  of  Vicksburg,  to  make  a  cowardly  attack. 

"  The  brigade  at  Baton  Eouge  has  routed  the  enemy. 

"  He  has  lost  three  brigadier-generals,  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners ; 
many  colonels  and  field  officers.  He  has  more  than  a  thousand  killed  and 
wounded. 


MLTJTABY   OPEBATTONS.  569 

"  You  have  captured  three  pieces  of  artillery,  six  caissons,  two  stand  of 
colors,  and  a  large  number  of  prisoners. 

"  You  have  buried  his  dead  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  are  caring  for  his 
wounded.  You  have  convinced  him  that  you  are  never  so  sick  as  not  to 
fight  your  enemy  if  he  desires  the  contest. 

"  You  have  shown  him  that  if  he  can  not  take  an  outpost  after  weeks  of 
preparation,  what  would  be  his  fate  with  the  main  body.  If  your  general 
should  say  he  was  proud  of  you,  it  would  only  be  to  praise  himself;  but  he 
will  say,  he  is  proud  to  be  one  of  you. 

"  In  this  battle,  the  northeast  and  the  northwest  mingled  their  blood  on 
the  field — as  they  had  long  ago  joined  their  hearts — in  the  support  of  the 
Union. 

"  Michigan  stood  by  Maine,  Massachusetts  supported  Indiana,  Wiscon- 
sin aided  Vermont,  while  Connecticut,  represented  by  the  sons  of  the  ever 
green  shamrock,  fought  as  their  fathers  did  at  the  Boyne  Water. 

"  While  we  mourn  the  loss  of  many  brave  comrades,  we,  who  were  ab- 
sent, envy  them  the  privilege  of  dying  upon  the  battle-field  for  our  country, 
under  the  starry  folds  of  her  victorious  flag. 

'*  The  colors  and  guidons  of  the  several  corps  engaged  in  the  contest  will 
have  inscribed  on  them — '  Baton  Rouge.' 

t;  To  complete  the  victory,  the  iron-clad  steamer  Arkansas,  the  last  naval 
hope  of  the  rebellion,  hardly  awaited  the  gallant  attack  of  the  Essex,  but 
followed  the  example  of  her  sisters,  the  Merrimac,  the  Manassas,  and  the 
Louisiana,  by  her  own  destruction." 

There  was  yet  another  general  order  relating  to  the  battle  of 
Baton  Rouge,  which,  long  as  it  is,  I  can  not  condense,  and  can  not 
endure  the  thought  of  omitting — so  honorable  is  it  to  the  heart  of 
him  who  penned  it,  and  so  honorable  to  the  brave  men  whose  good 
conduct  it  chronicles. 

"New  Orleans,  August  25, 186 \ 

"  The  commanding  general  has  carefully  revised  the  official  reports  of  the 
action  of  August  5th,  at  Baton  Rouge,  to  collect  the  evidence  of  the 
gallant  deeds  and  meritorious  services  of  those  engaged  in  that  brilliant 
victory. 

"  The  name  of  the  lamented  and  gallant  General  Williams  has  already 
passed  into  history. 

"  Colonel  Roberts,  of  the  Seventh  Vermont  volunteers,  fell  mortally 
wounded,  while  rallying  his  men.  He  was  worthy  of  a  better  disciplined 
regiment  and  a  better  fate. 

"  Glorious  as  it  is  to  die  for  one's  country,  yet  his  regiment  gave  him  the 
inexpressible  pain  of  seeing  it  break  in  confusion  when  not  pressed  by  the 


570  MILITARY    OPERATIONS. 

enemy,  and  refuse  to  march  to  the  aid  of  the  outnumbered  and  almost 
overwhelmed  Indianians. 

"  The  Seventh  Vermont  regiment,  by  a  fatal  mistake,  had  already  fired 
into  the  same  regiment  they  had  refused  to  support,  killing  and  wounding 
several. 

M  The  commanding  general,  therefore,  excepts  the  Seventh  Vermont  from 
General  Order  No.  57,  and  will  not  permit  their  colors  to  he  inscribed  with 
a  name  which  could  bring  to  its  officers  and  men  no  proud  thought. 

"  It  is  farther  ordered,  that  the  colors  of  that  regiment  be  not  borne  by 
them  until  such  time  as  they  shall  have  earned  the  right  to  them,  and  the 
earliest  opportunity  will  be  given  this  regiment  to  show  whether  they  are 
worthy  descendants  of  those  who  fought  beside  Allen,  and  with  Stark  at 
Bennington. 

"  The  men  of  the  Ninth  Connecticut,  who  were  detailed  to  man  Nim's  bat- 
tery, deserve  special  commendation. 

u  The  Fourteenth  Maine  volunteers  have  credit  for  their  gallant  conduct 
throughout  the  day. 

"  Colonel  Xickerson  deserves  well  of  his  country,  not  more  for  his  daring 
and  cool  courage  displayed  on  the  field  when  his  horse  was  killed  from 
under  him,  but  for  his  skill,  energy  and  perseverance  in  bringing  his  men 
in  such  a  state  of  discipline  as  to  enable  them  to  execute  most'  difficult 
maneuvers,  under  fire,  with  steadiness  and  efficiency.  His  regiment  be- 
haved admirably. 

"  Nim's  battery,  Second  Massachusetts,  under  command  of  Lieutenant 
Trull,  its  captain  being  confined  by  sickness ;  Everett's  battery,  Sixth  Mas- 
sachusetts, under  command  of  Lieutenant  Carruth,  who  fought  his  battery 
admirably ;  Manning's  battery,  Fourth  Massachusetts,  and  a  section  of  a  bat- 
tery taken  by  the  Twenty-first  Indiana  from  the  enemy,  and  attached  to  that 
regiment,  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Brown,  are  honorably  mentioned 
for  the  efficiency  and  skill  with  which  they  were  served.  The  heaps  of 
dead  and  dying  within  their  range  attested  the  fatal  accuracy  of  their  fire. 

"  The  Sixth  Michigan  fought  rather  by  detachments  than  as  a  regiment, 
but  deserves  the  fullest  commendation  for  the  gallant  behavior  of  its  officers 
and  men.  Companies  A,  B,  and  F,  under  command  of  Captain  Cordin,  re- 
ceive special  mention  for  the  coolness  and  courage  with  which  they  sup- 
ported and  retook  Brown's  battery,  routing  the  Fourth  Louisiana,  and 
capturing  their  colors,  which  the  regiment  has  leave  to  send  to  its  native 
state. 

"  Colonel  Dudley,  Thirtieth  Massachusetts  volunteers,  has  credit  for  the 
conduct  of  the  right  wing  under  his  command.  The  Thirtieth  Massachu- 
setts was  promptly  brought  into  action  by  Major  Whitteinore,  and  held  its 
position  with  steadiness  and  success. 

M  To  the  Twenty-first  Indiana  a  high  meed  of  praise  is  awarded.     '  Honor 


MILITARY    OPERATIONS.  571 

to  whom  honor  is  due.'  Deprived  of  the  services  of  their  brave  colonel, 
suffering  under  wounds  previously  received,  who  essayed  twice  to  join  his 
regiment  in  the  fight,  hut  fell  from  his  horse  from  weakness.  With  every 
field  officer  wounded  and  borne  from  the  field,  its  adjutant,  the  gallant 
Latham,  killed,  seeing  their  general  fall,  while  uttering  his  last  known 
words  on  earth,  '  Indianians,  your  field  officers  are  all  killed — I  will  lead 
you,'  still  this  brave  corps  fought  on  without  a  thought  of  defeat.  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Keith  was  everywhere,  cheering  on  his  men  and  directing  their 
movements,  and  even  after  his  very  severe  wound,  gave  them  advice  and 
assistance.  Major  Hayes,  while  sustaining  the  very  charge  of  the  enemy, 
wounded  early  in  the  action,  showed  himself  worthy  of  his  regiment. 

"  The  Ninth  Connecticut  and  Fourth  Wisconsin  regiments,  being  posted 
in  reserve,  were  not  brought  into  action,  but  held  their  position.  Colonel 
T.  W.  Cahill,  Ninth  Connecticut,  oa  whom  the  command  devolved  by  the 
death  of  the  lamented  Williams,  prosecuted  the  engagement  to  its  ultimate 
glorious  success,  and  made  all  proper  disposition  for  a  farther  attack. 

"Magee's  cavalry  (Massachusetts),  by  their  unwearied  exertions  on 
picket  and  outpost  duty,  contributed  largely  to  our  success,  and  deserve 
favorable  mention. 

"  The  patriotic  courage  of  the  following  officers  and  privates,  who  left 
the  hospitals  to  fight,  is  specially  commended  : 

"  Captain  H.  C.  Wells,  company  A,  Thirtieth  Massachusetts ; 

"  Captain  Eugene  Kelty,  company  I,  Thirtieth  Massachusetts ; 

"  First  Lieutenant  C.  A.  R.  Dimon,  adjutant  Thirtieth  Massachusetts ; 

"  Second  Lieutenant  Fred.  M.  Norcross,  company  G,  Thirtieth  Massachu- 
setts ; 

"  Third  Lieutenant  Win.  B.  Allyn,  Sixth  Massachusetts  battery  ; 

u  Second  Lieutenant  Taylor,  Fourth  Massachusetts  battery; 

"  Sergeant  Cheever,  Ninth  Connecticut ; 

"  Private  Tyler,  Ninth  Connecticut. 

"  The  following  have  honorable  mention : 

"Lieutenant  H.  H.  Elliot,  A.  A.  A.  G-.  to  General  Williams,  for  his  cool- 
ness and  intrepidity  in  action,  and  the  promptness  with  which  he  fulfilled 
his  duties ; 

"  Lieutenant  J.  F.  Tenney,  quartermaster  of  Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  who 
fell  severely  wounded  while  acting  aid  to  General  Williams ; 

"  Lieutenant  W.  G.  Howe,  of  company  A,  Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  act- 
ing aid  to  Colonel  Dudley,  dangerously  wounded  in  five  places  before  he 
quit  the  field ; 

"Lieutenant  C.  A.  E.  Dimon,  adjutant  Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  acting 
aid  to  Colonel  Dudley,  behaved  most  gallantly  ; 

Lieutenant  Fred.  M.  Norcross,  Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  acting  aid  to 
Colonel  Dudley,  for  daring  courage  in  the  field ; 


572  MILITARY    OPERATIONS. 

"  Alfred  T.  Holt,  assistant  surgeon  Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  for  humane 
courage,  taking  on  his  back,  under  a  hot  fire,  the  wounded  soldiers  as  they 
fell; 

"  Lieutenant  G.  F.  Whitcomb,  Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  gallantly  dashing 
into  the  smoke  of  the  enemy's  musketry,  bringing  off  a  caisson  left  by  Man- 
ning's battery ; 

"The  gallant  officer  and  admirable  soldier,  Captain  Eugene  Kelty,  of 
company  I,  Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  who  was  ordered  to  deploy  his  brave 
and  active  company  of  Zouaves  as  skirmishers  on  the  right,  and  in  the  per- 
formance of  this  duty  fell  bravely  at  their  head  ; 

"  Lieutenant  W.  H.  Gardner,  company  K,  Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  who 
fell  wounded  severely,  but  entreated  not  to  be  taken  from  the  field  until  the 
battle  should  be  ended ; 

"  Color  Sergeant  Brooks,  company  @,  Thirtieth  Massac!;-; setts,  and  Color 
Corporal  Eogers,  company  K,  Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  who  lost  his  left  arm. 
Both  behaved  admirably  during  the  entire  engagement ; 

"Private  McKinzie,  company  B,  Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  who,  though 
wounded,  with  a  bullet  still  in  his  body,  remained  on  duty  throughout  the 
engagement,  and  is  now  at  his  post ; 

"  First  Sergeant  John  Haley,  company  E,  Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  com- 
manded his  company  bravely  and  well,  in  the  necessary  absence  of  his  line 
officers ; 

"  Captain  James  Grim  sly,  company  B,  Twenty-first  Indiana,  who  com- 
manded the  regiment  after  Colonel  Keith  was  wounded,  for  his  gallant 
behavior  in  following  up  the  battle  to  its  complete  success  ; 

"  Adjutant  Matthew  A.  Latham,  Twenty-first  Indiana,  instantly  killed 
while  in  the  act  of  waving  his  sword  and  urging  on  the  men  to  deeds  of 
valor ; 

"  Lieutenant  Chas.  D.  Seeley,  Orderly  Sergeant  John  A.  Bovington,  Cor- 
poral Isaac  Knight,  and  private  Henry  T.  Batchelor,  all  of  company  A, 
Twenty-first  Indiana,  who  were  killed  instantly,  while  bravely  contesting 
the  ground  with  the  enemy  ; 

"  Captain  Noblett,  Twenty-first  Indiana,  detailing  men  from  his  company 
to  assist  in  working  the  guns  in  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  battery,  after  the 
gunners  were  disabled,  for  his  supporting  Lieutenant  Carruth  and  his  bat- 
tery; 

"Lieutenant  Brown  of  the  Twenty-first  Indiana,  commanding  a  battery, 
improvised  from  his  regiment,  for  the  efficient  manner  in  which  he  handled 
the  guns.     He  deserves  promotion  to  a  battery  ; 

"  Captain  Chas.  E.  Clarke,  acting  colonel  Sixth  Michigan  regiment,  pre- 
vented the  enemy  from  flanking  our  right,  bringing  his  command  at  the 
critical  moment  to  the  support  of  Nim's  battery ; 

"  Lieutenant  Howell,  company  F,  Sixth  Michigan,  and  Lieutenant  A.  J. 
Ralph,  acting  adjutant,  for  intrepidity  ; 


MILITARY    OPERATIONS.  6*73 

V  Captain  Spitzer,  Sixth  Michigan,  in  command  of  the  company  of  pickets 
who  handsomely  held  in  check  the  enemy's  advance  ; 

"  The  fearless  conduct  of  Lieutenant  Howell,  company  F,  and  Sergeant 
.Thayer,  company  A,  Sixth  Michigan  regiment,  after  they  were  wounded, 
in  supporting  Lieutenant  Brown's  battery ;  Lieutenant  Russey,  company 

A,  for  his  coolness  and  daring  ; 

M  Captain  Soule  and  Lieutenant  Fasset,  company  I,  Sixth  Michigan,  as 
skirmishers,  were  wounded;  deserve  special  notice  for  the  steadiness  of 
their  command,  which  lost  heavily  in  killed  and  wounded.     First  Sergeant 

B.  Stoddard,  company  I ;  Captain  Smith,  company  A ;  Lieutenant  Chess 
man,  company  B ;  Captain  Davies  Bacon,  company  K,  provost  judge ; 

;t  Major  Bickmore  and  Adjutant  J.  H.  Metcalf,  of  the  Fourteenth  Maine, 
wounded  while  nobly  discharging  their  duty ; 

"  Captain  French,  company  K,  Fourteenth  Maine,  who  was  terribly 
wounded  while  leading  on  his  men  to  one  of  the  finest  charges  of  the  battle. 
It  is  sorrowful  indeed  to  add  that  by  the  accident  to  the  steamer  "White- 
man  he  was  drowned. 

"  Second  Sergeant  J.  JST.  Seavy,  company  C ; 

"  Corporal  Edminster,  company  D  ; 

"  Second  Sergeant  Snow,  company  D  ; 

u  Private  A.  Blackman,  company  F ; 

"  Private  Preble,  company  F  ; 

"  All  of  the  Fourteenth  Maine,  and  are  commended  for  rare  bravery. 

"  Acting  Ordnance  Sergeant  Long  ; 

"  Quartermaster  Sergeant  Gardner,  and 

"  Commissary  Sergeant  Jackman ; 

"  All  of  the  Fourteenth  Maine,  and  all  of  whom  borrowed  guns  and  en- 
tered the  ranks  at  the  commencement  of  the  action. 

"  Captain  Chas.  H.  Manning,  Fourth  Massachusetts  battery,  who  fought 
his  battery  admirably,  and  established  his  reputation  as  a  commander. 

"John  Donaghue,  Fourth  Massachusetts  battery,  who  brought  off  from 
the  camp  of  the  Seventh  Vermont  regiment  their  colors  at  the  time  of  their 
retreat. 

"  Private  John  R.  Duffee,  Fourth  Massachusetts  battery ;  private  Ralph 
O.  Rowley,  of  Magee's  cavalry,  who  together  went  into  the  field,  hitched 
horses  unto  a  battery  wagon  of  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  battery,  and  brought 
it  off  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy  ; 

"  Lieutenant  "Win.  B.  Allyn,  who  had  two  horses  shot  under  him ;  Lieu- 
tenant Frank  Bruce,  Orderly  Sergeant  Baker,  Sergeant  "Wachter,  Corporal 
Wood  and  private  George  Andrews,  all  of  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  battery, 
for  especial  bravery,  gallantry,  and  good  conduct ; 

"  Sergeant  Cheever  and  privates  Tyler,  Shields  and  Clogston,  of  the 
Ninth  Connecticut,  for  the  skill  and  bravery  with  which  they  worked  ono 
of  their  guns ; 


574  MILITARY   OPERATIONS. 

"  Captain  S.  W.  Sawyer,  of  company  H,  Ninth  Connecticut,  for  his  daring 
reconnoissance  on  the  morning  of  the  9th,  during  which  he  found  and  se- 
cured three  of  the  enemy's  caissons,  filled  with  ammunition." 

The  paragraphs  reflecting  upon  the  conduct  of  .the  Seventh  Ver- 
mont led  to  an  investigation  of  its  behavior  in  the  battle,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  vindication  of  the  regiment.  General  Butler  published 
an  order,  which  corrected  the  error  into  which  the  first  reports  of 
the  action  had  led  him,  and  restored  the  regiment  to  all  its  honors. 

The  repulse  at  Baton  Rouge  changed  the  plans  of  the  rebel  lead- 
ers ;  but  did  not  induce  them  to  give  up  their  main  design.  Gen- 
eral Butler  himself  had  no  fear  for  the  safety  of  New  Orleans.  He 
fully  expected  an  attack,  however,  and  disposed  his  forces  to  meet 
it,  even  withdrawing  the  troops  from  Baton  Rouge,  and  leaving  it 
to  the  custody  of  the  gun-boats.  But  the  Confederate  leaders,  be- 
fore the  month  of  September  was  ended,  abandoned  their  scheme. 
The  Union  army  in  New  Orleans  had  been  recruited  by  white  and 
colored  troops,  and  at  whatever  point  the  enemy  "  felt"  the  Union 
lines,  they  found  them  unyielding  to  the  touch. 

More  of  the  Guerilla   Warfare. 

The  absurd  guerilla  warfare,  however,  was  never  intermitted.  I 
call  it  absurd,  because  while  it  was  fomented  by  the  Confederate 
government,  and  encouraged  by  its  non-combatant  partisans,  it 
was  more  destructive  of  rebel  property  than  injurious  to  the  United 
States.  It  is  melancholy  to  read  the  reports  of  officers  who  com- 
manded parties  sent  against  the  bandits  who  were  ravaging  Loui- 
siana. Major  F.  H.  Peck,  of  the  Twelfth  Connecticut,  who  spent  a 
week  in  the  early  part  of  August,  in  guerilla  hunting  on  the  shores 
of  Lake  Pontchartrain,  found  everywhere  the  traces  of  indiscrimi- 
nate plunder  and  destruction. 

Ascending  the  Pearl  river,  he  says,  u  We  found  the  people  in 
great  destitution,  and  beset  by  plunderers  on  every  side."  Again, 
at  Pass  Christian :  "  We  found  the  place  deserted  by  nearly  all  its 
population,  who,  as  from  other  towns  we  visited,  are  daily  flying 
by  boat-loads  to  avoid  impressment  into  the  Confederate  service. 
They  are  destitute  of  the  necessaries  of  life."  "  At  Shields's  Bow, 
outrages  too  gross  for  description  have  been  recently  perpetrated 
by  guerillas,  who  find  apologists  among  the  most  prominent  citi- 


MILITARY    OPERATIONS.  575- 

zens  of  the  place."  "  At  Louisburgh  all  the  docks  and  buildings 
were  burned  by  a  party  of  guerillas  two  weeks  since.  It  will  cost 
many  thousand  dollars  to  rebuild  them."  "  Madisonville  was  de- 
serted, and  nearly  every  public  and  private  building  closed."  "  In 
many  places  flour  had  not  been  seen  for  months."  "  We  met  large 
numbers  flying  to  the  protection  of  the  federal  army,  and  at  each 
place  visited  by  us,  without  exception,  we  were  besought  by  men 
and  women  for  passage  to  New  Orleans.  At  several  places  we  were 
asked  to  leave  troops  for  protection  against  their  professed  friends." 
"  Authorized  and  commissioned  as  the  guerillas  are,  they  are  actu- 
ated by  no  motive  but  plunder ;  they  fight  only  from  ambuscade, 
and  war  indiscriminately  upon  friend  and  foe." 

So  it  was  in  Spain,  when  the  Spanish  people  asked  Marshal 
Soult  for  protection  against  their  own  guerillas.  Mexico  tells  the 
same  story.  So  it  is  now  in  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  and 
Virginia.  The  world  will  never  know  what  the  people  of  the 
South  have  suffered,  and  are  suffering,  from  bandits  bearing  the 
authorization  of  the  rebel  government,  and  carrying  the  ugly  flag 
of  organized  treason. 

Through  this  starving  land  streamed  incessantly  droves  of  cattle 
from  Texas  for  the  rebel  armies.  There  is  one  ferry  upon  the  Mis- 
sissippi over  which,  it  is  computed,  two  hundred  thousand  Texan 
cattle  were  carried  during  the  first  eighteen  months  of  the  war.  A 
few  days  after  Major  Peck's  return,  Colonel  S.  Thomas,  of  the  Eighth 
Vermont  dashed  northward,  with  a  force  of  cavalry  and  artillery, 
and  captured  a  drove  of  fifteen  hundred  cattle  from  Texas,  and 
brought  them  all  safely  within  the  Union  lines. 

One  of  these  raids  into  the  enemy's  country  I  will  relate  with  a 
little  more  detail.  It  was  the  most  daring  little  enterprise  of  the 
campaign,  and  well  illustrated  the  splendid  valor  of  the  officer  who 
commanded  it,  the  late  General  George  C.  Strong.  I  little  thought, 
when  I  heard  him  tell  the  story  in  his  gay  and  sprightly  manner,  a 
few  days  before  his  departure  for  Charleston,  that  before  the  tale 
could  get  into  print,  his  eyes  would  be  closed  for  ever.  He  died  as  he 
wished  to  die,  and  as  he  meant  to  die.  "  I  shall  not  die  by  disease," 
he  said  to  a  friend,  who  spoke  to  him  upon  his  health,  about  the 
time  of  this  exploit  in  Louisiana.  In  war,  the  more  valuable  a  life 
is,  the  more  likely  it  is  to  be  lost,  and  never  was  a  life  more  lavishly 
risked  than  his. 


576  MILITARY   OPERATIONS. 

General  Jeff.  Thompson,  who  commanded  the  rebel  forces  near 
the  shores  of  Lake  Pontchartrain,  is  an  officer  of  a  humorous  turn 
of  mind.  He  had  written  some  saucy  notes  to  General  Butler, 
during  the  summer,  one  of  which  has  been  given  in  a  previous 
chapter.  He  was  also  the  animating  spirit  of  the  legitimate  war- 
fare which  was  waged  in  the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  his  camp,  and 
commanded  part  of  the  forces  designed  to  invest  New  Orleans. 
Major  Strong  learned  from  the  Union  spies  that  the  head-quarters 
of  this  merry  chieftain  were  at  the  village  of  Ponchatoula,  where 
he  had  but  two  companies  of  infantry,  and  no  cannon,  the  main 
camp  being  nine  miles  to  the  north  of  it.  At  Ponchatoula,  also, 
were  depots  of  supplies,  a  post-office,  and  a  telegraph-office,  the 
sudden  seizure  of  which  might  disclose  valuable  information.  The 
village  was  six  miles  from  the  Tangipaho  river,  a  navigable  stream. 
Major  Strong  conceived  the  project  of  ascending  this  river  in  a 
steamboat,  landing  a  force  soon  after  midnight,  surprising  the  vil- 
lage at  daybreak,  capturing  the  general,  the  letters  and  the  dis- 
patches, destroying  the  supplies,  and  beating  a  hasty  retreat  to 
the  steamer  before  the  alarm  could  reach  the  main  body  of  the  enemy. 

At  four  in  the  afternoon  of  September  13,  three  companies  of 
the  Twelfth  Maine,  under  Captain  Thornton,  Captain  Farrington, 
and  Captain  Winter,  and  one  company  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Massa- 
chusetts, under  Captain  Pickering,  embarked  on  board  the  Ceres. 
At  eleven  in  the  evening  the  steamer  reached  the  mouth  of  the 
Tangipaho,  and  grounded  on  the  bar.  When,  after  a  severe  strug- 
gle, this  obstacle  had  been  overcome,  the  boat  pushed  up  the  nar- 
row, winding  river  four  miles ;  when  it  was  one  o'clock — too  late 
for  the  contemplated  surprise.  Major  Strong  determined  to  wait 
till  the  next  night,  and  returned  to  the  mouth  of  the  river.  To  pre- 
vent the  sending  of  intelligence  to  the  enemy,  he  directed  Lieutenant 
Martin  to  collect-  and  bring  in  every  small  boat  on  the  Tangipaho. 

Lieutenant  Martin,  a  very  young  officer,  fresh  from  a  comfort- 
able home  in  New  York,  who  had  volunteered  to  serve  as  aid  to 
the  commander  of  the  party,  had  a  view  of  the  horrors  of  war  in 
performing  this  duty,  which  he  will  never  forget,  if  he  should  live 
to  be  a  lieutenant-general.  The  shores  of  the  river,  in  the  dim  light 
of  the  morning,  presented  to  his  view  nothing  but  desolation. 
Many  of  the  houses  were  deserted,  and  every  garden  and  field  lay 
waste.     Gaunt,  yellow,  silent  figures  stood  looking  at  the  passing 


MILITAET    OPERATION'S.  577 

boat,  images  of  despair.  The  people  there  had  been  small  farmers, 
market-gardeners,  fishermen,  and  shell-diggers ;  all  of  them  being 
absolutely  dependent  upon  the  market  of  New  Orleans,  from  which 
they  had  been  cut  off  for  four  months.  Roving  bands  of  guerillas 
and  the  march  of  regiments  had  robbed  them  of  the  last  pig,  the 
last  chicken,  the  last  eggf  and  even  of  their  half-grown  vegetables. 
In  all  that  region  there  was  nothing  to  eat  but  corn  on  the  cob,  and 
of  that  only  a  few  pecks  in  each  house.  Lieutenant  Martin  was 
hailed  from  one  of  the  houses : 

"There's  a  child  dying  here.  For  God's  sake  send  a  doctor 
ashore  to  save  it !" 

The  nature  of  the  duty  he  was  upon  forbade  delay ;  but,  as  .he 
was  returning,  an  hour  later,  with  his  fleet  of  boats,  he  stopped  at 
the  house.  The  corpse  of  a  girl,  ten  years  old,  wasted  to  a  skele- 
ton, lay  upon  a  bed  in  the  cabin.  Wasted  as  she  was,  it  was  evi- 
dent that  she  had  been  a  pretty,  refined-looking  girl. 

"Of  what  did  she  die?" 

"  We  had  nothing  to  give  her  but  corn  and  fresh  fish.  We  had 
no  medicine.  She  could  not  eat  what  we  had.  She  starved  for 
want  of  proper  food.     That's  what  she  died  of" 

It  was  an  awful  scene — the  white  skeleton  upon  the  bed ;  the  sul 
len,  hungry,  despairing  family  standing  silently  around ;  the  bare, 
comfortless  room ;  the  utter  devastation  without. 

The  young  officer  was  obliged  to  tell  them  that  he  must  have 
their  boat. 

"  If  you  do,"  said  one  of  them,  "  we  shall  all  starve,  for  we  live 
on  fish,  and  without  a  boat  we  can  get  no  fish." 

The  boat  had  to  be  taken,  but  it  was  returned  within  twenty-four 
hours ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  Lieutenant  Martin  sent  them  a  week's 
provisions.  They  seemed  relieved  when  he  left  them,  fearing  to  be 
'compromised"  by  his  presence.  On  slighter  grounds  than  the 
chance  visit  of  a  Union  officer,  the  guerillas  had  burned  houses  and 
heaped  every  kind  of  outrage  upon  the  heads  of  helpless  and  un- 
offending people.  Terror  evidently  possessed  every  mind.  One 
man  on  the  Tangipaho,  of  whom  some  slight  service  was  requested, 
replied  to  Major  Strong : 

"  I'll  do  it,  if  you  will  agree  to  take  me  away  with  you.  If  you 
leave  me  here,  I'm  a  dead  man  before  your  steamboat  is  out  of 
sight." 


5lB  MILITARY    OPERATIONS. 

The  Ceres  could  not  ascend  the  river  to  the  point  proposed. 
Major  Strong  then  steamed  to  Manchac  bridge,  the  terminus  of  a 
railroad  that  led  to  Ponchatoula,  ten  miles  distant.  He  had  re- 
solved, rather  than  return  to  New  Orleans  defeated,  to  march  along 
this  railroad,  and  fall  upon  the  place  in  open  day.  With  two  com- 
panies only,  those  of  Captain  Thornton  and  Captain  Farrington, 
numbering  one  hundred  and  twelve  men,  he  started  soon  after  sun- 
rise. It  was  one  of  the  hottest  days  of  a  Louisiana  summer,  with- 
out a  breath  of  wind  to  temper  the  blistering  rays  of  the  sun.  The 
path  lay  through  a  wooded  swamp,  and  the  railroad  being  laid  upon 
trestle-work,  the  march  was  difficult  and  laborious  in  the  extreme. 
Those  huge  lumbermen  of  Maine  sank  under  the  blazing  heat. 
Four  were  sun-struck.  Many  fell  through  the  trestles,  and  had  to 
be  hoisted  out  of  the  swamp  by  their  comrades.  They  saw  but 
one  human  being  on  the  way.  As  they  were  sweltering  slowly  and 
silently  along,  the  grinning  face  of  a  negro  emerged  from  the  bushes 
in  the  swamp.     He  waved  his  old  hat  above  his  head,  and  shouted, 

"  Hurrah !  I  always  said  the  Yankees  would  come — and  here 
you  is !" 

They  were  more  than  four  hours  in  marching  the  ten  miles. 
About  eleven  o'clock  they  began  to  see  signs  of  the  village. 
Another  negro  here  darted  from  behind  a  car  that  was  standing  on 
the  track : 

"  Don't  go  no  furder,  master,"  said  he  to  the  major,  "  they've 
got  cannon — they'll  kill  you  all  shore." 

The  party  pushed  on.  They  soon  descried  a  locomotive  slowly 
backing  toward  the  village,  the  engineer  striving  to  get  up  steam. 
A  dozen  muskets  were  fired  at  him.  He  did  not  fall,  but  continued 
to  recede  with  increasing  velocity,  and  backed  through  the  village, 
and  beyond  the  village  toward  Camp  Moore,  screaming  the  alarm. 
There  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  Major  Strong  ranged  a  file  of  men 
across  the  railroad,  to  hide  the  smallness  of  his  force,  while  he 
formed  his  troops.  They  advanced  at  the  double-quick,  which  soon 
became  a  full  run,  and  so  rushed  into  the  village.  The  negro  Was 
right — the  enemy  had  cannon.  A  blast  of  canister  greeted  the  pant- 
ing troops,  and  laid  Captain  Thornton  low,  with  three  balls  in  his 
body  and  four  more  through  his  clothes.  Most  of  this  canister, 
however,  went  crashing  through  a  house  in  which  many  women  had 
taken  refuge,  who  came  screaming  into  the  street,  and  ran  wildly 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS.  579 

about  between  the  two  hostile  bodies.  Major  Strong  halted  his 
men,  and  made  new  dispositions  with  most  admirable  coolness. 
One  company  he  moved  to  the  right,  the  other  to  the  left;  and  both, 
from  partial  cover  or  from  advantageous  ground,  poured  a  steady 
lire  into  the  ranks  of  the  foe.  For  a  few  minutes  the  action  was 
exceedingly  sharp.  Of  Major  Strong's  1-12  men,  33  were  killed 
or  wounded.  Twice  the  enemy  fled  and  rallied.  But,  within  fif- 
teen minutes  from  the  moment  when  the  Union  column  entered 
the  place,  the  rebel  force,  three  hundred  in  number  and  six  pieces 
of  artillery,  abandoned  the  village  in  hopeless  confusion. 

But  the  bird  had  flown.  Jeff.  Thompson  had  left  the  evening 
before.  His  sword,  his  spurs,  his  bridle,  his  papers,  were  seized. 
These  only — not  his  clothing  and  personal  effects.  The  post-office 
and  telegraph-office  were  searched.  A  large  quantity  of  old  U,  S. 
postage  stamps,  and  a  considerable  number  of  letters  and  dispatches 
were  found  and  brought  away.  Twenty  car  loads  of  supplies  were 
burnt.     The  telegraphic  instruments  were  broken  to  pieces. 

As  there  were  some  thousands  of  rebel  troops  within  nine  miles 
of  Ponchatoula,  and  a  locomotive  had  carried  the  alarm  thither, 
Major  Strong  was  compelled  to  deny  himself  the  pleasure  of  a  long 
stay  in  the  village.  The  weary  tramp  on  the  tressel-work  was  re- 
sumed. Several  of  the  severely  wounded  were  left  behind — Capt. 
Thornton  among  them.  The  gallant  Captain  was  exchanged  a  few 
days  after ;  he  recovered  from  his  wounds,  and  returned  to  his  regi- 
ment. Before  the  troops  had  gone  two  miles  from  the  village, 
down  came  a  train  of  platform  cars,  with  a  howitzer  upon  each  of 
them  and  men  to  work  it.  But  Major  Strong,  who  had  anticipated 
a  movement  of  that  nature,  had  removed  some  rails  from  the  track, 
and  caused  them  to  be  carried  along  with  the  troops.  The  how- 
itzers, therefore,  played  upon  the  slowly  retiring  column  from  a 
distance  which  rendered  their  fire  ineffectual. 

It  was  terrible,  that  march  back  to  the  steamboat.  The  men 
were  exhausted  to  the  degree  that  they  begged  and  implored  to  be 
left  behind.  One  youpg  officer,  deaf  to  the  word  of  command  and 
to  the  voice  of  entreaty,  Major  Strong  could  only  rouse  from  the 
last  stupor  of  fatigue  by  violently  kicking  him  as  he  lay  across  the 
track.  Nothing  saved  the  command  from  destruction  but  a  drench- 
ing shower,  which  put  new  life  into  them  all,  and  enabled  them  to 
drag  their  weary  limbs  to  the  boat  before  dark. 
25 


580  MILITARY    OPERATIONS. 

General  Butler  characterized  this  incursion  as  "  one  of  the  most 
daring  and  successful  exploits  of  the  war,  equal  in  dash,  spirit,  and 
cool  courage,  to  anything  attempted  on  either  side.  Major  Strong 
and  his  officers  and  men  deserve  great  credit.  It  may  have  been  a 
little  too  daring,  perhaps  rash,  but  that  has  not  been  an  epidemic 
fault  with  our  officers."  • 

ISTo  man  Avho  went  with  this  expedition  was  surprised  at  the  pro- 
motion of  Major  Strong  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general :  still  less 
at  his  splendid  heroism  in  Charleston  harbor.  He  was  expressly 
formed  to  lead  a  forlorn  hope  upon  an  enterprise  that  was  only 
one  remove  from  the  impossible.  Like  Winthrop,  and  so  many 
other  gallant  spirits,  he  had  given  his  life  to  his  country  long  before 
the  moment  when  the  gift  was  accepted. 

Conquest  of  Lafourche. 

When  the  enemy  had  ceased  to  threaten  New  Orleans  and  its 
outposts,  General  Butler  deemed  it  prudent  to  extend  the  area  of 
conquest  by  reannexing  the  Lafourche  district  to  the  United  States. 
A  brigade  of  infantry,  with  the  requisite  artillery,  and  a  body  of 
cavalry,  under  an  able  and  enterprising  officer,  Captain  Perkins,  was 
placed  under  the  command  of  General  Weitzel  for  this  purpose. 
General  Weitzel  penetrated  this  wealthy  and  populous  region  in 
the  last  week  of  October.  A  series  of  rapid  marches,  one  spirited 
action,  and  a  number  of  minor  combats,  placed  him  in  complete  and 
permanent  possession  of  the  country  in  four  days. 

It  was  here  that  the  negro  question  presented  itself  so  appallingly 
to  the  mind  of  the  commander  of  the  invading  force.  "What  shall 
I  do  about  the  negroes?"  he  wrote  to  head-quarters  October  29th. 
"  You  can  form  no  idea  of  the  vicinity  of  my  camp,  nor  can  you 
form  an  idea  of  the  appearance  of  my  brigade  as  it  marched  down 
the  bayou.  My  train  was  larger  than  an  army  train  for  25,000  men. 
Every  soldier  had  a  negro  marching  in  the  flanks,  carrying  his 
knapsack.  Plantation  carts,  filled  with  negro  women  and  children, 
with  their  effects ;  and  of  course  compelled  to  pillage  for  their 
subsistence,  as  I  have  no  rations  to  issue  to  them.  I  have  a  great 
many  more  negroes  in  my  camp  now  than  I  have  whites.  *  * 
These  negroes  are  a  perfect  nuisance." 

And  the  next  morning  a  party  of  General  Weitzel's  troops  cap- 


MILITARY    OPERATIONS.  581 

tured  four  hundred  wagon  loads  of  negroes,  which  the  enemy  were 
attempting  to  carry  with  them  in  their  retreat.  There  were  in  the 
whole  district  about  6,000  slaves,  all  of  whom  were  in  a  ferment, 
and  for  the  moment  useless  ;  especially  in  the  neighborhood  whence 
almost  the  whole  white  population  had  fled. 

For  several  days  it  could  be  truly  said  of  Lafourche  that  chaos 
had  come  again.  But  General  Butler's  abandoned  plantation  sys- 
tem was  soon  in  operation,  and  restored  the  community  to  a  tolera- 
ble degree  of  order  and  safety.  The  standing  cane  was  gathered  ; 
the  sugar-mills  were  set  going ;  the  negroes  were  merrily  working 
at  ten  dollars  a  month  ;  and  the  United  States  was  reaping  some  of 
the  advantage  of  their  labor.  A  considerable  number  of  the  ne^;  >ss, 
freed  by  the  confiscation  act,  found  the  way  into  their  regiments  of 
"  Native  Guards,"  a  procedure  that  was  not  pleasing  in  the  sight 
of  General  Weitzel. 

By  the  conquest  of  Lafourche,  an  immense  amount  of  property 
liable  to  confiscation  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  commanding  general. 
The  people  who  remained  on  the  plantations,  made  haste  to  endeav- 
or to  save  their  property  by  making  fictitious  transfers.  Some  of 
the  officers  of  the  invading  force,  finding  large  quantities  of  sugar 
lying  about  loose,  which  the  owners  were  only  too  glad  to  sell  at 
any  price,  caught  the  fever  of  speculation,  and  bought  sugar  to  the 
extent  of  their  means.  General  Butler  visited  the  principal  camp 
of  occupation,  and  soon  learned  what  was  going  on.  Feeling  that 
the  whole  army  was  in  danger  of  demoralization  if  this  speculation 
in  sugar,  and  in  commodities  more  portable,  was  allowed  to  con- 
tinue, he  determined  to  apply  a  sweeping  remedy.  He  devised  a 
scheme,  which  not  only  stopped  this  irregular  speculation,  but 
poured  the  whole  of  the  proceeds  of  the  forfeited  property  into  the 
public  treasury.  He  sequestered  the  entire  district,  and  all  that  it 
contained,  subject  to  the  final  adjudication  of  a  commission  of 
officers.  The  following  general  order  unfolds  his  scheme.  As 
none  of  General  Butler's  acts  in  Louisiana  has  caused,  or  is  causing, 
so  much  outcry  as  this,  the  reader  should  read  this  order  with  par- 
ticular attention.     The  order  was  executed  to  the  letter  : 


"New  Oeleans,  November  9,  1862. 
"  The  commanding  general  being  informed,  and  believing,  that  the  dis- 
trict west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  lately  taken  possession  of  by  the  United 


582  MILITARY    OPERATIONS. 

States  troops,  is  most  largely  occupied  by  persons  disloyal  to  the  United 
States,  and  whose  property  has  become  liable  to  confiscation  under  the  acts 
of  congress  and  the  proclamation  of  the  president,  and  that  sales  and  trans- 
fers of  said  property  are  being  made  for  the  purpose  of  depriving  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  same,  has  determined,  in  order  to  secure  the  rights  of  all  per- 
sons as  well  as  those  of  the  government,  and  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the 
crops  now  growing  to  be  taken  care  of  and  secured,  and  the  unemployed  labor- 
ers to  be  set  at  work,  and  provision  made  for  payment  of  their  labor 

"To  order,  as  follows: 

"  I.  That  all  the  property  within  the  district  to  be  known  as  the  '  Dis- 
trict of  Lafourche'  be  and  hereby  is  sequestered,  and  all  sales  or  transfers 
are  forbidden,  and  will  be  held  invalid. 

"  II.  The  district  of  Lafourche  will  comprise  all  the  territory  in  the  state 
of  Louisiana  lying  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  except  the  parishes  of  Pla- 
quemines and  Jefferson. 

"III.  That  Major  Joseph  M.  Bell,  provost  judge,  president,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  J.  B.  Kinsman,  A.  D.  C,  Captain  Fuller  (75th  N".  Y.  Vols.),  pro- 
vost-marshal of  the  district,  be  a  commission  to  take  possession  of  the 
property  in  said  district,  to  make  an  accurate  inventory  of  the  same,  and 
gather  up  and  collect  all  such  personal  property,  and  turn  over  to  the  proper 
officers,  upon  their  receipts,  such  of  said  property  as  may  be  required  for 
the  use  of  the  United  States  army ;  to  collect  together  all  the  other  personal 
property,  and  bring  the  same  to  New  Orleans  and  cause  it  to  be  sold  at 
public  auction  to  the  highest  bidders,  and  after  deducting  the  necessary  ex- 
penses of  care,  collection,  and  transportation,  to  hold  the  proceeds  thereof 
subject  to  the  just  claims  of  loyal  citizens  and  those  neutral  foreigners  who 
in  good  faith  shall  appear  to  be  the  owners  of  the  same. 

"  IV.  Every  loyal  citizen  or  neutral  foreigner  who  shall  be  found  in  ac- 
tual possession  and  ownership  of  any  property  in  said  district,  not  having 
acquired  the  same  by  any  title  since  the  18th  day  of  September  last,  may 
have  his  property  returned  or  delivered  to  him  without  sale,  upon  estab- 
lishing his  condition  to  the  judgment  of  the  commission. 

"  V.  All  sales  made  by  any  person  not  a  loyal  citizen  or  foreign  neutral, 
since  the  18th  day  of  September,  shall  be  held  void ;  and  all  sales  whatever 
made  with  the  intent  to  deprive  the  government  of  its  rights  of  confisca- 
tion, will  be  held  void,  at  what  time  soever  made. 

"  VI.  The  commission  is  authorized  to  employ  in  working  the  plantation 
of  any  person  who  has  remained  quietly  at  his  home,  whether  he  be  loyal  or 
disloyal,  the  negroes  who  may  be  found  in  said  district,  or  who  have,  or 
may  hereafter  claim  the  protection  of  the  United  States,  upon  the  terms 
set  forth  in  a  memorandum  of  a  contract  heretofore  offered  to  the  planters 
of  the  parishes  of  Plaquemines  and  St.  Bernard,  or  white  labor  may  be  em- 
ployed at  the  election  of  the  commission. 


MILITAET    OPERATIONS.  583 

"  VII.  The  commissioners  will  cause  to  be  purchased  such  supplies  as  may 
he  necessary,  and  convey  them  to  such  convenient  depots  as  to  supply  the 
planters  in  the  making  of  the  crop ;  which  supplies  will  be  charged  against 
the  crop  manufactured,  and  shall  constitute  a  lien  thereon. 

"  VIII.  The  commissioners  are  authorized  to  work  for  the  account  of  the 
United  States  such  plantations  as  are  deserted  by  their  owners,  or  are  held 
by  disloyal  owners,  as  may  seem  to  them  expedient,  for  the  purpose  of  sav- 
ing the  crops. 

"  IX.  Any  persons  who  have  not  been  actually  in  arms  against  the  Uni- 
ted States  since  the  occupation  of  New  Orleans  by  its  forces,  and  who  shall 
remain  peaceably  upon  their  plantations,  affording  no  aid  or  comfort  to  the 
enemies  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  return  to  their  allegiance,  and 
who  shall,  by  all  reasonable  methods,  aid  the  United  States  when  called 
upon,  may  be  empowered  by  the  commission  to  work  their  own  plantations, 
to  make  their  own  crop,  and  to  retain  possession  of  their  own  property, 
except  such  as  is  necessary  for  the  military  uses  of  the  United  States.  And 
to  all  such  persons  the  commission  are  authorized  to  furnish  means  of 
transportation  for  their  crops  and  supplies,  at  just  and  equitable  prices. 

"  X.  The  commissioners  are  empowered  and  authorized  to  hear,  deter- 
mine, and  definitely  report  upon  all  questions  of  the  loyalty,  disloyalty,  or 
neutrality  of  the  various  claimants  of  property  within  said  district ;  and 
farther,  to  report  such  persons  as  in  their  judgment  ought  to  be  recommend- 
ed by  the  commanding  general  to  the  president  for  amnesty  and  pardon, 
so  that  they  may  have  their  property  returned ;  to  the  end  that  all  persons 
that  are  loyal  may  suffer  as  little  injury  as  possible,  and  that  all  persons 
who  have  been  heretofore  disloyal,  may  have  opportunity  now  to  prove 
their  loyalty  and  to  return  to  their  allegiance,  and  save  their  property  from 
confiscation,  if  such  shall  be  the  determination  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States." 

For  six  weeks  the  commissioners  were  employed  in  applying  the 
confiscation  act  to  the  property  in  Lafourche,  in  establishing  the 
loose  negroes  upon  the  abandoned  lands,  and  in  restoring  to  Union 
men  their  temporarily  sequestered  estates. 

The  chief  labor  of  the  commission  devolved  upon  Colonel  Kins- 
man, as  his  associates  had  already  their  hands  full  of  occupation. 
When  the  people  came  crowding  about  him  professing  loyalty  to 
the  Union,  he  reminded  them  that  he  had  had  the  pleasure  of  visit- 
ing Lafourche  in  the  month  of  May,  when  he  had  been  informed 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Lafourche  were  united  as  one  man  against 
the  United  States.  He  gave  them  to  understand  that  the  taking 
of  the  oath  of  allegiance^  at  the  last  moment,  by  men  who  had  given 


584  MILITARY    OPERATIONS. 

a  thousand  proofs  of  their  complicity  with  treason,  was  not  enough 
to  secure  their  property  from  confiscation.  The  strict  observance 
of  this  rule  added,  in  the  course  of  time,  about  a  million  dollars  to 
the  revenue  of  the  United  States,  and  deprived  a  large  number  of 
rebels  of  the  means  of  doing  harm.  Colonel  Kinsman  had  a  most 
difficult  duty  to  perform;  one  that  tasked  equally  his  sagacity  and  his 
firmness  ;  and  one  that  he  shrank  from  undertaking.  He  acquitted 
himself  well.  He  executed  the  order  and  the  law  with  care  and 
fidelity,  and  won  the  approval  of  all  disinterested  persons  who  had 
the  means  of  judging  his  conduct.  Some  of  the  military  speculators 
in  sugar  grumbled  at  the  rigor  of  decisions  which  deprived  them 
of  anticipated  gain,  and  all  the  victims  of  the  confiscation  act  ab- 
horred the  officer  who  executed  it.  But  the  friends  of  the  Union 
observed  with  admiration  his  tact  and  patience  in  investigating, 
and  the  impartial  justice  of  his  awards.  A  corrupt  man  in  his  situ- 
ation could  have  made  a  fortune  with  absolute  security  against  de- 
tection. He  forbore  even  to  buy  a  hogshead  of  confiscated  sugar, 
which  he  would  have  liked  to  send  as  a  present  to  his  New  Eng- 
land home,  lest  he  should  give  a  pretext  for  the  tongue  of  slander. 

Every  dollar's  worth  of  confiscated  property  was  sold  at  New 
Orleans  at  public  auction,  of  which  previous  notice  was  publicly 
given.  No  man  had  the  slightest  advantage  over  another  in  pur- 
chasing, and  the  entire  proceeds  of  the  sales  were  paid  into  the 
public  treasury. 

Every  secessionist  in  Louisiana  will  tell  you  to-day,  that  this 
pure  and  faithful  officer  retired  from  Lafourche  a  millionaire.  They 
will  also  assure  you  that  the  rest  of  the  proceeds  of  the  confiscated 
property  were  divided  between  General  Butler  and  his  brother. 
They  really  believe  that  the  general  sent  at  least  two  millions 
away  for  investment  during  the  eight  months  of  his  administra- 
tion. 

I  was  myself  informed  by  a  gentleman  fresh  from  New  Orleans, 
who  had  spent  several  weeks  in  the  society  of  that  city,  that  Gen- 
eral Butler  had  invested  immense  sums  in  Newr  York  lots.  So  ho 
had  been  told  in  New  Orleans ;  all  secessionists  in  New  Orleans 
believed  it.  "  Corner  lots,"  he  particularly  mentioned  as  objects  of 
the  general's  ambition.  As  the  two  millions  may  not  all  have  been 
expended,  gentlemen  having  desirable  corner  lots  to  dispose  of 
may,  perhaps,  find  a  purchaser  somewhere  in  Lowell. 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS.  585 

Such  were  the  principal  military  operations  in  the  department  of 
the  gulf.  If  they  were  less  splendid  than  those  of  other  fields,  if 
they  were  not  all  that  the  circumstances  invited  and  required,  it 
can  be  truly  said  that  they  were  all  that  the  force  at  the  disposal 
of  the  commanding  general  permitted.  What  could  be  prudently 
attempted  was  handsomely  done.  In  November  General  Butler, 
if  he  had  dared  to  leave  New  Orleans  inadequately  defended  for 
ten  days,  would  have  nipped  Port  Hudson  in  the  bud.  He  dared 
not,  with  the  force  at  his  command,  risk  the  tempting  enterprise. 
And  when,  after  months  of  waiting  and  beseeching  for  re-enforce- 
ments, re-enforcements  arrived,  they  came  provided  with  a  major- 
general. 

Much  of  the  success  of  General  Butler  in  his  department  was 
owing  to  the  fact  that  he  contrived,  in  spite  of  opposing  influences 
in  Massachusetts,  to  take  with  him  many  officers  of  his  own  selec- 
tion— men  whom  he  understood,  and  who  were  peculiarly  adapted 
to  render  him  efficient  service.  Several  of  these  officers  served 
1  ong  without  commission  and  without  pay.  They  were  afterward 
commissioned  by  a  stroke  of  General  Butler's  legal  legerdemain. 
They  were  appointed  to  positions  on  the  staff  of  some  other  major- 
general,  not  of  Massachusetts,  and  then  "  assigned"  to  the  staff  of 
General  Butler. 

The  general,  however,  was  most  ably  assisted  by  the  officers  of 
his  command,  generally.  Perhaps,  I  may  say,  without  improprie- 
ty, that  among  those  to  whom  he  feels  peculiarly  indebted  are  the 
following  officers : 

General  Strong,  now  in  glory ;  Major  Bell,  General  Weitzel, 
vaptain  Peter  Haggerty,  General  "Williams,  now  with  General 
h-rong;  Dr.  McCormick,  Colonel  Shaffer,  Captain  John  Clark, 
Colonel  J.  W.  Turner,  Colonel  Lall,  of  the  Eighth  New  Hampshire  ; 
Captain  Thorne,  of  the  Twelfth  Maine  ;  Colonel  Kennebec,  of  the 
j-arae ;  Colonel  McMillan,  of  the  Twenty-first  Indiana,  now  brigadier- 
general  ;  Colonel  Keith,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Kinsman,  Captain  Per- 
kins, of  the  Massachusetts  cavalry;  Colonel  Deming,  of  the  Twelfth 
Connecticut ;  Colonel  Birge,  of  the  Thirteenth  Connecticut ;  Gen- 
eral Shepley,  Colonel  Thomas,  of  the  Eighth  Vermont ;  Captain  R. 
S.  Davis,  Captain  Kensel,  chief  of  artillery ;  Captain  John  F.  Apple- 
ton,  Colonel  Payne,  of  the  Second  Louisiana ;  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Everett,  Major  W.  O.  Fiske. 


-36  ROUTINE    OF   A    DAT   IN   NEW    ORLEANS. 

Many  others,  doubtless.  But  these  are,  certainly,  among  those 
whom  General  Butler  would  like  to  have  with  him  if  he  had  an- 
other New  Orleans  to  take  and  tame. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

ROUTINE  OF  A  DAY  IN  NEW  ORLEANS. 

A  Major-General  commanding,  as  modern  warfare  is  conducted, 
is  in  danger  of  becoming  the  slave  of  the  desk.  He  carries  a  sword 
in  obedience  to  custom,  but  the  instrument  that  he  is  most  familiar 
with  is  that  one,  which,  '  eminent  tragedians'  say,  is  mightier  than 
the  sword.  The  quantity  of  writing  required  for  the  business  of  a 
division  stationed  in  a  quiet  district  is  very  great.  But  in  such  a 
department  as  that  of  the  Gulf  in  1862,  a  general  must  manage 
well,  or  he  will  find  himself  reduced  to  the  condition  of  the  '  sole 
editor  and  proprietor'  of  a  daily  newspaper.  His  life  will  resolve 
itself  into  a  vain  struggle  to  keep  down  his  pile  of  unanswered  let- 
ters. General  Butler  employed  seven  clerks  at  head-quarters ;  he 
had,  also,  the  assistance  of  the  younger  members  of  his  staff;  but, 
with  all  this  force  of  writers  to  assist  him,  he  wrote  or  dictated 
more  hours  in  the  twenty-four  than  professional  writers  usually  do. 

Let  us  see  how  the  day  went  in  New  Orleans. 

From  eight  to  nine  in  the  morning,  General  Butler  usually 
received  ladies  at  his  residence,  who  desired  to  avoid  the  publicity 
of  the  office  at  the  Custom-House,  or  who  had  communications  to 
make  of  a  confidential  nature.  At  nine,  he  went,  in  some  state,  to 
his  public  office.  On  his  appearance  at  the  front  door,  the  guard, 
drawn  up  before  the  house,  saluted,  and  the  general  entered  his 
carriage,  two  orderlies  being  mounted  on  the  box.  The  same  cere- 
monial was  observed  when  he  entered  the  Custom-House.  The  six 
mounted  orderlies,  employed  in  conveying  messages  and  orders, 
were  drawn  up  before  the  principal  entrance,  and  saluted  the 
general.  On  his  way  to  his  own  apartment,  he  had  to  pass  through 
the  court-room  in  which  Major  Bell  was  dispensing  justice  to  the 


ROUTINE    OF   A   DAT   IN  NEW    ORLEANS.  587 

people  of  New  Orleans.  The  major  remarked  the  good  effect  it 
had  upon  the  spectators  to  see  the  commander  of  the  department 
remove  his  cap,  as  he  entered  the  court-room,  and  bow  to  the  pre- 
siding judge.  On  reaching  his  office,  the  general  would  find  from 
one  hundred  to  two  hundred  people,  in  and  around  the  adjoining 
rooms,  waiting  to  see  him. 

The  office  was  a  large  room,  furnished  with  little  more  than  a 
long  table  and  a  few  chairs.  In  one  corner,  behind  the  table,  sat, 
unobserved,  a  short-hand  reporter,  who,  at  a  signal  from  the  gener- 
al, would  take  down  the  examination  of  an  applicant  or  an  informer. 
The  general  began  business  by  placing  his  pistol  upon  the  table, 
within  easy  reach.  After  the  detection  of  two  or  three  plots  to 
assassinate  him,  one  of  the  aids  caused  a  little  shelf  to  be  made 
under  the  table  for  the  pistol,  while  another  pistol,  unloaded,  lay 
upon  the  table,  which  any  gentleman,  disposed  to  attempt  the  game 
of  assassination,  was  at  liberty  to  snatch. 

That  single  loaded  pistol,  carried  in  a  pocket  or  laid  upon  a  shelf, 
was  General  Butler's  sole  precaution  against  assassination  in  a  com- 
munity of  whom  a  majority  would  have  treated  his  murderer  as  a 
patriotic  hero,  and  rewarded  him  with  honor  and  with  wealth. 
But  that  precaution  sufficed.  Chance  gave  him  the  reputation  of 
being  a  dead  shot,  and  every  man  who  observed  his  movements 
could  infer  that  his  handling  of  his  pistol  would  be  quick  and  dex- 
terous. He  was  riding  along  one  day,  with  a  numerous  retinue, 
where  some  orange  trees,  loaded  with  fruit,  hung  over  a  wall.  As 
he  rode  by,  he  took  out  his  pistol,  and  aiming  it  at  a  twig  which 
sustained  three  fine  oranges,  severed  the  twig,  and  brought  the 
game  rolling  on  the  ground.  It  was  a  chance  shot,  which,  proba- 
bly, he  could  not  have  equaled  in  ten  trials.  But  it  answered  the 
purpose  of  giving  the  impression  that  he  was  the  best  shot  in  New 
Orleans.  Yet,  it  was  surprising  that  no  one  attempted  his  assas- 
sination. He  went  everywhere  with  one  attendant,  or  with  none. 
His  apparent  carelessness  was  a  daily  invitation  to  the  assassin. 

Another  member  of  the  staff,  of  a  mischievous  turn,  had  exer- 
cised his  talents  in  printing,  in  large  letters,  the  following  sentence, 
legible  to  all  visitors,  on  the  wall  of  the  room : 

"There  is  no  difference  between  a  he  and  a  she 
Adder  in  their  venom." 

Mrs.  Philips,  and  other  ladies  of  a  similar   disposition,  would 


f»88  ROUTINE    OF   A  DAY  IN  NEW   ORLEANS. 

glare  at  the  legend  indignantly,  as  though  this  simple  statement 
of  a  fact  in  natural  history  had  some  special  reference  to  them. 

There  was  another  little  contrivance,  which  I  believe  was  an 
achievement  of  the  general's  own  genius.  Some  of  his  Creole 
visitors,  and  some  of  the  Israelitish  money-changers  who  came  to 
him,  were  addicted  to  the  use  of  garlic — a  fact  which  did  not  ren- 
der a  close  confidential  interview  with  them  so  desirable  as  a  con- 
ference from  a  point  more  remote.  Consequently,  the  chair  pro- 
vided for  the  use  of  such  persons  was  tied  by  the  leg  to  the  leg  of 
the  table,  so  that  it  could  not  be  drawn  very  near  the  one  occupied 
by  the  general.  The  anxious  petitioner,  not  observing  the  cord, 
was  likely  to  open  the  conference  by  throwing  the  chair  over. 
Others,  who  succeeded  in  seating  themselves  without  this  embar- 
rassing catastrophe,  found  all  their  attempts  to  edge  up  confiden- 
tially to  the  general's  ear  unavailing.  This  invention  saved  the 
general  from  the  fumes  of  garlic,  and  compelled  the  visitor  to  speak 
loud  enough  for  the  reporter  to  hear  him. 

The  general  being  seated  in  his  chair  behind  the  table,  with  his 
artillery  in  position,  heads  of  departments  were  first  admitted,  such 
as  the  medical  director  and  the  chief  of  police.  Their  reports  hav- 
ing been  received  and  acted  upon,  the  chiefs  of  the  Relief  Com- 
mission and  the  Labor  Commission  entered  and  reported.  Next 
to  them  such  persons  as  consuls  and  bank  directors.  The  first 
hour  of  the  morning  was  usually  consumed  in  conference  with  these 
and  other  important  official  individuals.  Then  the  public  were 
admitted,  thirty  at  a  time,  who  stood  in  a  semi-circle  before  the 
table.     The  general  would  begin  at  one  end  of  the  line,  and  ask : 

"  What  do  you  want  ?" 

They  wanted  everything  that  creature  ever  wanted :  a  pass  to 
go  beyond  the  lines;  an  order  on  the  relief  committee  for  food; 
protection  against  a  hard  landlord ;  a  permit  to  search  for  a  slave ; 
aid  to  recover  a  debt ;  the  arbitration  of  a  dispute ;  payment  of  a 
claim  against  the  government ;  the  restoration  of  forfeited  proper- 
ty ;  the  suppression  of  a  nuisance ;  employment  in  the  public  offices ; 
a  gift  of  money ;  information  on  points  of  law ;  protection  against 
a  cruel  master.  Others  came  to  give  information,  or  to  wreak  an 
inexpensive  revenge  by  denouncing  a  private  foe  as  a  public  enemy. 
The  general  devoted  an  average  of  twenty  seconds  to  the  considera- 
tion of  each.     A  few,  short,  sharp,  incisive  questions,  and  then  the 


ROUTINE    OF   A   DAT   IN  MW    0ELEANS.  589 

decision,  clear  as  yes  or  no  could  make  it.  And  the  decision  once 
pronounced,  there  was  not  another  syllable  to  be  said.  Every  one 
got,  at  least,  an  answer,  and  the  answer  was  generally  right.  Under 
the  lire  of  General  Butler's  cross-questioning,  the  subterfuges  and 
evasions  of  the  unskillful  rebels  melted  rapidly  away,  and  the  truth 
stood  out  clear  and  unmistakable.  Sometimes,  when  a  man  had 
been  detected  in  a  falsehood,  he  would  try  again. 

"  Well,  General,  I  own  it  was  a  lie,  but  now  I  am  going  to  tell 
the  truth." 

It  happened,  not  unfrequently,  that  the  general  would  overturn, 
by  an  adroit  question  or  two,  the  second  version  of  the  tale,  and 
the  man  would  essay  a  third  time,  calling  all  the  saints  to  witness 
that  now,  at  last,  the  pure  truth  should  be  told,  and  then  immedi- 
ately coin  a  new  series  of  falsehoods,  to  be  instantly  detected  by  the 
general.  Scenes  of  this  kind  occurred  so  often,  that  it  became  a 
by- word  at  head-quarters :  "  Now  I  am  going  to  tell  you  the  truth." 

At  eleven  o'clock,  the  door  being  closed  to  miscellaneous  appli- 
cants, the  letters  of  the  day  were  placed  upon  the  table  opened,  to 
the  number  of  eighty  or  a  hundred.  The  general  read  over  each, 
and  disposed  of  most  of  them  by  writing  a  word  or  two  on  the 
back,  "yes,"  "no,"  "granted,"  "refused;"  in  accordance  with 
which  the  answer  was  prepared  by  clerk  or  secretary.  Others 
were  reserved  for  consideration  or  for  answer  by  the  general's  own 
hand.  Military  business  was  next  in  order,  which  brought  him  to 
the  hungry  hour  of  one.  After  luncheon,  the  writing  of  reports 
and  letters  occupied  the  time  till  half-past  four.  Then  home  to  din- 
ner. From  half-past,  five  till  dark,  the  general  was  on  horseback, 
reviewing  a  regiment  here,  visiting  an  outpost  there,  thus  uniting 
duty  with  recreation.  Then  home  to  his  private  office,  where  he 
wrote  or  dictated  letters  till  ten.  The  last  tired  scribe  being  then 
dismissed,  the  general  retired  to  the  only  apartment  into  which  no 
visitor  ever  entered,  where,  at  a  little  desk  in  a  corner,  he  wrote 
the  papers  and  dispatches  which  were  of  most  importance,  or  which 
were  designed  only  for  the  eye  of  the  person  addressed. 

Even  this  constant  devotion  to  the  business  of  his  position  could 
not  prevent  an  accumulation  of  unanswered  letters.  Frequently  he 
was  obliged  to  ply  the  pen  all  day  Sunday,  in  order  to  reduce  the 
mountain  of  papers,  and  begin  the  week  with  a  clear  conscience  and 
a  clean  table.    The  business,  however,  was  all  done.    No  letter  but 


590  ROUTINE    OF   A    DAT   IN   NEW    ORLEANS. 

received  its  due  attention.  Letters  from  home  asking  information 
respecting  soldiers  who  had  suddenly  ceased  to  write  to  their  friends 
were  invariably  answered,  and  the  fullest  accounts  given  which 
could  be  procured.  A  decent  application  for  an  autograph  was  not 
neglected ;  for  the  general  kept  a  supply  of  the  article  on  hand, 
ready  folded,  enveloped,  and  stamped. 

«  Why  not?"  he  said  one  day  to  Major  Strong,  who  laughed  at 
this  business-like  proceeding.  "  If  I  can  gratify  a  person,  by  writing 
my  name,  why  should  not  I  do  it  ?  At  the  same  time,  why  should 
not  I  do  it  with  the  least  trouble  to  myself?"* 

Thus  the  days  passed.  A  trip  up  the  river  to  Baton  Rouge,  or 
down  the  river  to  the  forts,  a  ride  to  Carrollton,  or  a  brigade  re- 
view, varied  the  uniformity  of  the  general's  life.  But  most  of  his 
days  were  employed  in  the  manner  just  described.  "  For  hours," 
writes  one,  "  he  sits  and  patiently  listens  to  complaints,  and  sug- 
gests punishments  or  redress.  Returning  to  his  hotel,  he  partakes 
of  a  simple  meal,  retires  to  his  room,  to  be  again  besieged  by  crowds 
of  officers  and  orderlies,  charged  with  reports,  or  waiting  orders. 
Late  at  night,  I  have  seen  the  gas  gleaming  from  his  room  (the 
door  open  by  the  necessity  of  getting  some  air  in  this  suffocating 
climate),  and  the  general  buried  in  the  labor  of  his  extensive  mili- 
tary correspondence."! 

It  was  not  General  Butler's  office  alone  which  was  besieged  by 
crowds  of  anxious  people.  Colonel  French,  General  Shepiey,  Col. 
Stafford,  Dr.  McCormick,  were  only  less  busy  than  he,  in  answer- 
ing the  arguments,  and  supplying  the  wants  of  the  people.  The 
intelligent  writer  just  quoted  attended,  at  the  City  Hall,  the  head- 
quarters of  Governor  Shepiey,  and  noted  the  cases  disposed  of  by 
him  in  one  morning.     The  catalogue  will  interest  the  reader : 

"  General  G.  F.  Shepiey,"  he  remarks,  "  the  least  observant  of 
people  would  point  out  as  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  character. 
His  figure  is  as  straight  as  an  Indian's,  his  eye — a  light  blue — is  re- 
markably expressive  ;  the  hair  sweeps  in  a  broad,  bold  dash  away 
from  his  square  forehead,  and  his  moustache  and  imperial  are  per- 
fect. With  his  sword  at  his  side,  and  standing  up  listening  to  the 
numerous  people  who  call  on  him,  I  have  rarely  seen  a  more  sol- 
dierly-looking man. 

*  N.B.  The  supply  is  now  said  to  be  exhausted,  the  demand  having  exceeded  the  resources  of 
the  market, 
t  Correspondence  of  the  New  York  Times. 


ROUTINE    OF    A   DAT   IN   NEW    ORLEANS.  501 

u  The  first  thing  brought  to  the  general's  notice  by  the  attendant 
clerks  was  a  petition  from  the  sheriff  of  New  Orleans  for  the  re- 
lief of  certain  prisoners.  A  tall,  shrewish  woman,  now  entered 
and  asked  for  an  order  to  make  a  tenant  pay  rent.  Next  came  a 
woman,  child  in  arms,  detailing  her  sufferings,  her  husband  having 
been  impressed  into  the  Confederate  service.  An  old  and  very  re- 
spectable gentleman  desired  a  pass  for  a  family  of  a  mother,  six 
children,  and  four  servants,  to  Baton  Rouge.  A  committee  appeared, 
desiring  work  on  the  streets  for  poor  men  who  had  been  in  rebel 
service  ;  petition  instantly  granted,  if  the  parties  named  wTould  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance.  A  gentleman  appears,  who  wishes  to  get  an 
order  to  repair  a  building  occupied  by  United  States  troops  as  a 
hospital ;  he  was  waved  Out  with  impatience.  Merchants  now 
crowd  in  with  all  sorts  of  questions  regarding  business  matters. 
An  officer  of  the  navy  obtrudes  his  gold-laced  cuff,  and  places  a  let- 
ter on  the  table  from  Commodore  Porter ;  it  is  opened,  read,  and 
answer  dictated,  in  a  moment.  A  man  now  presents  himself,  and 
says  his  negro,  who  had  been  absent  several  days,  said  he  was 
forcibly  retained  in  the  national  lines ;  General  Shepley  rises  from 
his  seat,  his  eyes  flash ;  he  replies,  mildly  but  positively,  that  he 
don't  believe  the  negro's  story,  and  demands  a  responsible  white 
man  for  a  witness,  the  complainant  leaving  precipitately.  Old  gen- 
tleman in  an  undertone  asks  a  favor  ;  it  is  granted,  and  old  gentle- 
man goes  off  delighted.  An  old  lady  in  black  now  comes  in,  with 
a  little  negro  girl  following  in  the  rear,  carrying  her  work-bag. 
Old  lady  seats  herself  on  the  lounge,  and  the  little  negro  girl 
crouches  on  the  carpet  at  her  feet.  General  Shepley  gets  up  and 
speaks  to  old  lady ;  she  says  nothing,  pouts  at  the  contraband,  and 
gets  some  answer  that  is  satisfactory — for  exit  old  lady,  little  negro, 
and  work-bag. 

"  A  delegation  of  merchants  now  appear,  who  have  some  conver- 
sation about  the  currency.  A  city  official  makes  a  report  about 
cleaning  the  streets.  A  Maine  skipper  comes  in — his  eyes  enlarged, 
and  his  face  on  a  broad  grin.  General  Shepley  is  from  his  town ; 
but  something  more,  the  Maine  skipper  has  found  his  vessel  over  at 
Algiers,  that  was  taken  from  him  some  months  before  by  the  priva- 
teers ;  he  gets  an  order  to  take  possession  of  his  vessel,  and  an- 
nounces that  he  has  more  sugar  offered  him  for  New  York  than  he 
CLn  put  in  his  newly  gained  prize.     Meantime,  two  handsome  young 


592  ROUTINE    OF   A   DAY   IN   NEW    ORLEANS. 

ladies  in  gay  colors  have  been  quietly  watching  the  proceedings 
through  their  half-drawn-aside  veils,  never  deigning  to  come  for- 
ward to  make  their  requests.  The  General  approaches  them,  and 
a  most  animated  conversation  in  an  undertone,  so  far  as  they  are 
concerned,  ensues.  The  general  listens  very  attentively,  evidently 
becomes  interested,  and  grants  the  request.  ~Now  he  goes  to  the 
ladylike  personage  in  black.  It  is  clear  she  is  a  widow ;  and  the  way 
she  rolled  her  large,  speaking,  dark  Creole  eyes  up  into  the  face  of 
the  general,  was  well  calculated  to  make  an  impression  on  the  'gov- 
ernor' if  he  had  been  born  even  farther  north  than  Maine.  The 
lady  next  pointed  out  her  sons,  and  asked  a  favor.  She  wanted  to 
get  out  of  the  city,  and  would  the  general  be  so  kind  as  to  give  her 
a  pass  to  go  beyond  the  federal  lines  ? 

"  A  committee  is  now  announced.  It  is  headed  by  the  president 
of  the  Union  association,  and  is  composed  of  its  prominent  mem- 
bers. They  present  a  petition  to  the  general,  requesting  certain 
municipal  reforms.  The  next  person  introduced  was  a  highly  re- 
spectable and  wealthy  planter,  who  had  never  yielded  to  the  pres- 
sure of  secession,  or  never  concealed  his  sentiments,  though  daily 
persecuted,  and  often  threatened  with  imprisonment  or  assassination. 
He  represented  the  sufferings  in  the  '  interior  parishes'  as  fearful, 
the  evils  of  starvation  and  suffering  occasioned  by  the  rebellion 
being  aggravated  by  the  high  water  that  had  flowed  in  from  the 
river,  the  levee  law  being  entirely  disregarded  by  the  landed  pro- 
prietors. 

"  For  five  long  hours  the  audiences  continue,  and  only  end  to 
enable  the  general  to  resume  new  duties  at  his  military  head-quar- 
ters at  the  custom-house." 

The  general  life  of  the  city  had  resumed  something  of  its  wonted 
careless  gayety  and  business  bustle.  The  morning  markets  of  New 
Orleans  were  bright  once  more  with  red  bandannas,  and  noisy  with 
the  many-tongued  chatter  of  the  hucksters — Creole,  French,  German, 
Spanish,  and  English.  "I  suppose,"  remarks  a  spirited  writer,* 
"  that  nowhere  since  the  dispersion  of  the  builders  of  Babel,  could 
be  heard  such  polyglot  vociferations  as  proceed  from  the  sidewalk 
peddlers  in  the  French  market  at  New  Orleans.  On  one  side,  the 
gesticulative  Gaul  rolls  his  r's  with  absolutely  canine  emphasis 
in  the  utterance  of  his  native  language,  or  gallicizes  the  English 

*  Mr.  Thomas  Butler  Gunn,  the  able  correspondent  of  the  2Teio  York  Tribune. 


RECALL.  593 

appellation  of  the  most  popular  of  vegetables  into  '  pa-ta-ta — s !'  or 
informs  you  that  the  price  of  a  bird  or  fish  is  '  two  bit !  two  bit — 
you  no  like  him,  you  no  hab  him !'  On  another,  the  German  vocifer- 
ates with  as  harmonious  an  effect  as  might  be  produced  by  the 
simultaneous  shaking  up  of  pebbles  in  a  quart  pot,  and  the  filing  of 
a  hand-saw ;  while  on  a  third  and  fourth,  the  Creole,  Sicilian,  and 
Dego  rival  each  other  in  vocal  discord.  Fancy  all  this,  and 
throw  in  any  amount  of  obstreperous,  broad-mouthed,  gleeful  negro 
laughter,  and  you  have  some  approximation  toward  the  sounds 
audible  at  the  time  and  locality  I  have  undertaken  to  describe." 

The  far-famed  rotunda  of  the  St.  Charles  hotel  again  resounded 
with  the  noise  of  multitudinous  conversation ;  but  its  lofty  dome 
echoed  not  back  the  sound  of  the  auctioneer's  hammer,  that  doomed 
the  pampered  house-slave  to  the  horrors  of  a  Red  River  plantation, 
or  consigned  a  beautiful  quadroon  to  the  arms  of  a  lucky  gambler. 
The  levee  still  looked  bare  and  deserted  to  those  who  had  known 
it  in  former  years ;  but  there  was  some  life  there.  A  few  vessels 
were  loading  or  discharging.  The  ferry-boats  were  plying  on  the 
river.  The  scream  of  the  steam- whistle  was  heard,  and  steamboats 
were  "  up"  for  Carrollton,  Baton  Rouge,  or  Fort  Jackson.  In  the 
stream  lay  at  anchor  a  few  representatives  of  the  immortal  fleet,  the 
arrival  of  which,  in  the  last  days  of  April,  ushered  in  a  new  era  of  the 
history  of  Louisiana. 


CHAPTER  XXXH. 

RECALL. 


There  had  been  rumors  all  the  summer  that  General  Butler  was 
about  to  be  recalled  from  the  Department  of  the  Gulf.  In  August, 
he  alluded  to  these  rumors  in  one  of  his  letters  to  General  Halleck, 
and  said,  that  if  the  government  meaut  to  remove  him,  it  was  only 
fair  for  his  successor  to  come  at  once,  and  take  part  of  the  yellow 
fever  season.  General  Halleck  replied,  September  14,  that  these 
rumors  were  "  without  foundation."  Mr.  Stanton  had  written 
approvingly  of  his   course.     Mr.  Chase  and  Mr.  Blair  expressed 


594  RECALL. 

very  cordial  approval  of  it.  The  president,  in  October,  wrote  to 
the  general  in  a  friendly  and  confidential  manner.  It  was  only  the 
secretary  of  state  who  appeared  to  dread  that  total  suppression  of 
the  enemies  of  the  United  States  in  Louisiana,  which  it  was  General 
Butler's  aim  to  effect.  But  it  was  not  supposed  that  his  policy 
would  carry  him  so  far  as  to  deprive  his  country  of  the  services  of 
the  man  who,  wherever  he  had  been  employed,  had  shown  so  much 
ability,  and  who  had  just  achieved  the  ablest  and  the  noblest  piece 
of  impromptu  statesmanship  the  modern  world  has  seen. 

General  Butler  was  going  on  in  the  usual  tenor  of  his  way.  His 
favorite  scheme,  as  the  winter  drew  near,  was  the  roofing  of  the 
custom-house,  the  citadel  of  New  Orleans.  The  government  had 
expended  millions  upon  that  edifice,  and  its  marble  walls  had  been 
completed,  but  it  stood  exposed  to  the  ( weather,  and  was  rapidly 
depreciating.  The  estimates  of  competent  engineer  officers  showed 
that  it  could  be  covered  for  about  forty  thousand  dollars  with  a  roof 
of  wood,  which  would  last  thirty  or  forty  years,  save  the  costly 
structure  from  decay,  and  render  the  upper  stories  inhabitable.  He 
procured  part  of  the  necessary  timber  by  seizing  a  large  quantity 
which  was  the  property  of  those  notorious  '  foreign  neutrals,'  Gau- 
therin  and  Co.,  and  which,  he  was  prepared  to  show,  had  been 
bought  by  the  Confederate  government.  In  executing  the  work, 
he  intended  to  employ  a  large  number  of  the  men  who  were  daily 
fed  by  the  bounty  of  the  government.  The  operation  was  about 
to  be  begun,  when  the  order  for  his  recall  arrived.  It  would  have 
been  done  in  three  months  from  the  revenues  of  the  department. 
The  Custom-House  is  still  without  a  roof. 

Another  project  engaged  his  attention  toward  the  close  of  the 
year.  He  received  information  that  a  speculative  firm  in  Havana 
had  imported  from  Europe  a  large  quantity  of  arms,  which  they 
hoped  to  sell  to  the  Confederate  government.  He  sent  an  officer  to 
Havana  to  examine  these  arms,  procure  samples,  and  endeavor  to 
get  the  refusal  of  them  for  three  months,  so  as  to  gain  time  for  the 
war  department  to  effect  the  purchase  of  the  arms  for  the  United 
States.  Captain  Hill,  the  officer  employed  on  this  errand,  had 
obtained  a  refusal  of  the  arms  for  several  weeks,  when  the  change 
of  commanders  took  place,  and  the  affair  was  dropped.  Captain 
Hill  reports,  that  no  citizen  of  the  United  States,  supposed  to  have 
a  public  commission,  was  safe  at  that  time  in  Havana.     He  was 


RECALL.  595 

subjected  to  every  kind  of  annoyance,  and  was  warned  by  friendly 
Cubans  not  to  be  in  the  streets  alone  after  dark.  The  town 
swarmed  with  rebel  emissaries  and  rebel  sympathizers,  affording 
another  proof  that,  in  this  quarrel,  we  are  alone  against  the 
benighted  men,  and  classes  of  men,  who  are  interested  in  retarding 
the  progress  of  civilization.  The  day  after  the  departure  of  Cap- 
tain Hill  from  New  Orleans,  the  report  was  current  in  the  city  that 
he  had  been  sent  by  General  Butler  to  the  North,  with  two  millions 
in  gold,  the  spoils  of  Lafourche,  to  deposit  in  some  place  of  safety 
against  the  coming  day  of  wrath.  He  carried,  in  fact,  just  twTo 
thousand  dollars  in  gold,  to  defray  his  expenses  in  Havana. 

New  Orleans  elected  two  members  of  congress  in  December, 
Mr.  Benjamin  F.  Flanders,  and  Mr.  Michael  Hahn,  both  uncondi- 
tional Union  men.  Mr.  Flanders  received  2,370  votes  out  of  2,543  ; 
Mr.  Hahn  received  2,58-1,  which  was  a  majority  of  144  over  all 
competitors.  The  canvass  was  spirited,  and  no  restriction  was 
placed  upon  the  voting,  except  to  exclude  all  who  had  not  taken 
the  oath  of  allegiance.  At  this  election,  the  number  of  Union 
votes  exceeded,  by  one  thousand,  the  whole  number  of  votes  cast 
in  the  city  for  secession. 

It  could  be  truly  said  in  December,  that  there  was  in  New  Or- 
leans, after  seven  months  of  General  Butler's  government,  a  numer- 
ous party  for  the  Union,  probably  a  majority  of  the  whole  number 
of  voters.  The  men  of  wealth  were  secessionists,  almost  to  a  man. 
The  gamblers  and  ruffians  were  on  the  same  side.  The  lowest  class 
of  whites  exhibited  the  same  impious  antipathy  to  the  negroes,  and 
the  same  leaning  toward  their  oppressors,  that  we  observe  in  the 
corresponding  class  in  two  or  three  northern  cities.  But,  among 
the  respectable  mechanics  and  smaller  traders,  there  was  a  great 
host  who  were  either  committed  to  the  side  of  the  Union,  or  were 
only  deterred  from  committing  themselves  by  a  fear  that,  after  all, 
the  city  was  destined  to  fall  again  under  the  dominion  of  the  Con- 
federates. The  Union  meetings  were  attended  by  enthusiastic 
crowds,  and  the  eloquence  of  a  Deming,  a  Durant,  a  Hamilton, 
was  greeted  wTith  the  same  applause  that  it  elicits  at  the  North. 
When  General  Butler  appeared  in  public  he  was  greeted  with 
cheers  not  less  hearty  nor  less  unanimous  than  he  has  since  been 
accustomed  to  receive  nearer  home.  Late  in  November  he  made 
a  public  visit  to  the  theater.    When  he  entered  the  house  the  audi- 


596  BECALL. 

ence  rose  and  gave  him  cheer  upon  cheer,  just  as  in  New  York  or 
Boston. 

The  Union  party,  too,  was  a  growing  power.  Union  men  now 
felt  that  they  were  on  the  side  of  the  strongest.  They  knew  that 
no  man  could  be  anything  or  effect  anything,  or  enjoy  anything  in 
Louisiana,  who  was  not  on  the  side  of  his  country.  For  Union  men 
there  were  offices,  employments,  privileges,  favors,  honors,  every- 
thing which  a  government  can  bestow.  For  rebels  there  was  mere 
protection  against  personal  violence — mere  toleration  of  their  pres- 
ence ;  and  that  only  so  long  as  they  remained  perfectly  submissive 
and  quiescent.  It  has  been  truly  remarked,  that  of  the  three  powers 
of  a  community — the  government,  the  rich  and  the  multitude — any 
two  can  always  overcome  the  third.  In  New  Orleans  the  govern- 
ment and  the  multitude  were  forming  daily  a  closer  union;  and  the 
wealthy  faction,  who  had  ruined  the  state,  were  becoming  daily 
more  isolated  and  more  powerless. 

Meanwhile,  the  general  was  urging  upon  the  war  department 
the  necessity  of  a  larger  force,  that  he  might  employ  the  cool  season 
in  reducing  Port  Hudson  and  extending  the  area  of  conquest  in 
other  directions.  He  entreated  his  old  friend  Senator  Wilson  to 
use  his  influence  at  the  war  department  in  his  behalf.  The  sena- 
tor's reply  is  curious,  when  we  consider  that  at  the  time  of  the 
interview  which  it  records  General  Butler's  successor  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Gulf  had  been  appointed  twenty-three  days.  "  Your 
note,"  said  Senator  Wilson,  "  was  placed  in  my  hand  to-day  (Dec. 
2),  and  I  at  once  called  upon  the  secretary  of  war,  and  pressed 
the  importance  of  increasing  your  force.  He  agreed  with  me  and 
promised  to  do  what  he  could  to  aid  you.  He  expressed  his  confi- 
dence in  you  and  his  approval  of  your  vigor  and  ability.  This  was 
gratifying  to  me,  but  I  should  have  been  more  pleased  to  have  had 
him  order  an  addition  to  your  force,  so  that  you  might  have  a 
larger  field  of  action.    I  will  press  the  matter  all  I  can." 

Early  in  December  it  became  well  known  in  New  Orleans  that 
the  government  was  preparing,  in  the  ports  of  the  North,  one  of 
those  imposing  expeditions  of  which  so  many  have  sailed  on  mys- 
terious errands  during  the  war.  Texas  was  supposed  to  be  its 
object.     Texas,  I  believe,  was  its  ultimate  object. 

In  the  absence  of  official  information,  and  supposing  his  own  ser- 
vices approved  by  the  government,  General  Butler  was  left  to  infer 


RECALL.  597 

that  General  Banks  was  to  hold  an  independent  command  in  the 
Department  of  the  Gulf.  He  feared  a  conflict  of  authority.  Nor 
could  he  regard  with  complacency  the  coming  of  another  major- 
general  to  reap  the  laurels  of  the  field,  while  he  himself,  after  hav- 
ing done  the  painful  and  odious  part  of  the  work,  was  left  still  to 
battle  only  with  the  sullen,  unarmed  secessionists  of  New  Orleans. 
Not  to  embarrass  the  government,  he  wrote  to  the  president  an 
unofficial  letter  on  the  subject. 

"I  see  by  the  papers,"  he  writes,  November  29th,  "that  General 
Banks  is  about  being  sent  into  this  department  with  troops,  upon 
an  independent  expedition  and  command.  This  seems  to  imply  a 
want  of  confidence  in  the  commander  of  this  department,  perhaps 
deserved,  but  still  painful.  In  my  judgment,  it  will  be  prejudicial 
to  the  public  service  to  attempt  any  expedition  into  Texas  without 
making  New  Orleans  a  base  of  supplies  and  co-operation.  To  do 
this  there  must  be  but  one  head,  and  one  department. 

"  I  do  not  propose  to  argue  the  question  here ;  still  farther  is  it 
from  my  purpose  to  suggest  even  that  there  may  not  be  a  better 
head  than  the  one  now  in  the  department.  I  beg  leave  to  call  your 
attention,  that  since  I  came  into  the  field,  the  day  after  your  first 
proclamation,  I  have  ever  been  in  the  frontier  line  of  the  rebellion 
— Annapolis,  when  Washington  was  threatened;  Relay  House, 
when  Harper's  Ferry  was  being  evacuated ;  Baltimore,  Fort  Mon- 
roe, Newport.  News,  Hatteras,  Ship  Island,  and  New  Orleans.  It 
is  not  for  me  to  say  with  what  meed  of  success.  But  I  have  a  right 
to  say  that  I  have  lived  at  this  station  exposed,  at  once,  to  the  pes- 
tilence and  the  assassin,  for  eight  months,  awaiting  re-enforcements 
which  the  government  could  not  give  until  now.  And  now  they 
are  to  be  given  to  another.  I  have  never  complained.  I  do  not  now 
complain.  I  have  done  as  well  as  I  could  everything  which  the 
government  asked  me  to  do.  I  have  eaten  that  which  was  set  be- 
fore me,  asking  no  questions. 

"  It  is  safe  for  any  person  to  come  to  New  Orleans  and  stay.  It 
has  been  demonstrated  that  the  quarantine  can  keep  away  the  fever. 
The  assassins  are  overawed  or  punished. 

"  Why,  then,  am  I  left  here  when  another  is  sent  into  the  field  in 
this  department  ?  If  it  is  because  of  my  disqualification  for  the 
sei  vice,  in  which  I  have  as  long  an  experience  as  any  general  in  the 
United  States  army  now  in  the  service  (being  the  senior  in  rank), 


598 


RECALL. 


I  pray  you  say  so ;  and  so  far  from  being  even  aggrieved,  I  will 
return  to  my  home,  consoled  by  the  reflection,  that  I  have  at  least 
done  my  duty  as  far  as  endeavor  and  application  go.  I  am  only 
desirous  of  not  being  kept  where  I  am  not  needed  or  desired,  and 
I  will  relieve  the  administration  of  all  embarrassment.  Pray  do  me 
the  favor  to  reflect  that  I  am  not  asking  for  the  command  of  any1 
other  person ;  but,  simply,  that  unless  the  government  service  re- 
quire it,  that  my  own,  which,  I  have  a  right  to  say,  has  not  been 
the  least  successful  of  the  war,  shall  not  be  taken  from  me  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  leave  me  all  the  burden  without  any  of  the  results 

"  Permit  me  also  to  say,  that  toward  General  Banks,  who  is  se- 
lected to  be  the  leader  of  the  Texas  expedition,  I  have  none  but  the 
kindest  feelings,  he  having  been  my  personal  friend  for  years,  and 
still  being  so. 

"  Writing  about  my  personal  affairs,  which  I  have  never  done 
before,  I  hardly  know  how  to  express  myself;  but  what  I  mean  is 
this  :  If  the  commander-in-chief  find  me  incompetent  (unfaithful  I 
know  he  can  not),  let  me  be  removed,  and  be  allowed  to  meet  the 
issue  before  him  and  my  country  ;  but,  as  I  never  do  anything  by 
indirection  myself,  all  I  ask  of  the  president,  as  a  just  man,  is  that 
the  same  course  may  be  taken  toward  me. 

"  Allow  me  to  repeat  again,  sir,  what  I  have  before  said — although 
the  determination  may  cause  my  recall — put  the  department  which 
includes  Louisiana  and  Texas  under  one  head,  and  it  will  be  best 
for  the  service.  I  pray  you,  sir,  not  to  misunderstand  me.  I  have 
given  up  something  for  my  country,  and  can  give  up  more.  And 
this  command  is  a  small  matter  in  comparison,  in  my  mind,  to  my 
own  self-respect,  or  to  the  good  of  the  service. 

"  I  do  not  seek  to  embarrass  the  government  by  any  action  of 
mine,  or  in  regard  to  myself.  Far  from  it.  I  could  even  take  my- 
self away  rather  than  to  do  any  thing  which  would  weaken,  by  one 
ounce,  the  strength  with  Avhich  the  administration  should  strangle 
this  rebellion." 

It  was  too  late.  When  this  letter  was  written,  the  fate  of  the 
writer  had  been  decided  for  twenty  days.  The  answer  to  it  came 
by  rebel  telegraph  to  the  outlying  camps  of  the  enemy,  and  was 
brought  in  by  the  Union  spies  ten  days,  or  more,  before  General 
Banks  himself  knew  his  destination.  It  came  in  the  form  of  a 
positive  statement  that  General  Banks  was  coming  to  New  Orleans 


RECALL.  699 

to  supersede  General  Butler.  The  higher  circles  of  secessionists 
were  so  certain  of  the  fact  that  bets  were  made,  in  the  principal 
club  of  the  city,  of  a  hundred  dollars  to  ten,  that  General  Butler 
would  be  recalled  before  the  end  of  the  year.  It  now  appears,  that 
the  French  government  was  first  notified  of  the  intended  change. 
The  news,  probably,  came  direct,  either  from  the  state  department 
or  from  the  French  legation.  From  whatever  source  it  was  de- 
rived, the  rebels  knew  it  before  it  had  been  whispered  about 
Washington.  Jefferson  Davis  knew  it  before  General  Banks, 
though  Davis  was  at  Jackson,  in  Mississippi,  and  General  Banks 
was  at  Washington. 

General  Butler  submitted  to  the  inevitable  stroke  with  the  best 
possible  grace.  He  had  had  practice  in  submission.  Had  he  not 
been  recalled  from  Baltimore  for  doing  his  duty  too  well  ?  Had 
he  not  been  recalled  from  Fortress  Monroe  at  the  moment  it  had 
become  possible  to  reap  the  fruit  of  his  most  able  and  arduous 
labors? 

He  gave  General  Banks  a  cordial  and  brilliant  reception.  At 
Fort  Jackson,  the  arriving  general,  much  to  his  surprise,  was 
saluted  by  the  number  of  guns  which,  by  regulation,  announce  the 
presence  of  the  commander  of  the  department.  At  the  levee  of 
"New  Orleans,  General  Butler  provided  carriages,  escort,  and  a 
saluting  battery,  and  detailed  members  of  his  staff  to  superintend 
the  arrangements  for  the  honorable  entertainment  of  his  successor. 
General  Banks  arrived  on  Sunday  evening,  December  14,  and 
immediately  drove  to  General  Butler's  residence,  where  he  was  re- 
ceived with  every  honor.  He  had  a  little  billet  to  deliver,  which 
explained  the  object  of  his  presence  in  Louisiana  with  a  brevity 
more  than  Roman : 

"War  Department,  Adjutant-General's  Office, 
u  Washington,  November  9,  1862. 
"General  Order  No.  184. 

"  By  direction  of  the  president  of  the  United  States,  Major-General  Banks 
is  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  including  the 
state  of  Texas.  By  order  of  the  secretary  of  war, 

"E.  D.  Thomas,  Assistant  Adjutant- General. 
"H.  W.  Halleck,  General-in-Chief." 

On  Tuesday,  the  sixteenth,  the  two  generals  met  at  head-quar- 
ters, where  General  Butler  formally  surrendered  the  command  of 


GOO  RECALL. 

the  department.  Each  general  introduced  his  staff  to  the  staff 
of  the  other.  General  Butler  pronounced  an  eulogium  upon  the 
character  and  career  of  his  successor,  and  ordered  his  staff  to  ex- 
tend to  him  and  to  his  officers  every  facility  in  their  power  for  ac- 
quiring the  requisite  information  relating  to  the  department.  The 
Delta,  in  chronicling  the  interview,  bestowed  due  commendation 
upon  the  retiring  general,  but  commended  General  Banks  to  the 
people  and  to  the  army  with  equal  warmth.  The  Delta  of  the  same 
day,  published  the  last  general  order  of  the  retiring  commander : 

"  Head-qttaetees,  Depaetment  of  the  Gulf, 
"  New  Oeleans,  December  15,  1862. 
Geneeal  Oedee  No.  106. 
"  Soldiers  of  the  Army  of  the  Gulf : 

"  Believed  from  farther  duties  in  this  department  hy  direction  of  the 
president,  under  date  of  November  9,  1862, 1  take  leave  of  you  by  this  final 
order,  it  being  impossible  to  visit  your  scattered  outposts,  covering  hun- 
dreds of  miles  of  the  frontier  of  a  larger  territory  than  some  of  the  king- 
doms of  Europe. 

"  I  greet  you,  my  brave  comrades,  and  say  farewell ! 

"  This  word,  endeared  as  you  are  by  a  community  of  privations,  hard- 
ships, dangers,  victories,  successes,  military  and  civil,  is  the  only  sorrowful 
thought  I  have. 

"You  have  deserved  well  of  your  country.  Without  a  murmur  you 
sustained  an  encampment  on  a  sand  bar,  so  desolate  that  banishment  to  it, 
witli  every  care  and  comfort  possible,  has  been  the  most  dreaded  punish- 
ment inflicted  upon  your  bitterest  and  most  insulting  enemies. 

"You  had  so  little  transportation,  that  but  a  handful  could  advance  to 
compel  submission  by  the  queen  city  of  the  rebellion,  whilst  others  waded 
breast-deep  in  the  marshes  which  surround  St.  Philip,  and  forced  the  sur- 
render of  a  fort  deemed  impregnable  to  land  attack  by  the  most  skillful  en- 
gineers of  your  country  and  her  enemy. 

''At  your  occupation,  order,  law,  quiet,  and  peace  sprang  to  this  city, 
filled  with  the  bravos  of  all  nations,  where  for  a  score  of  years,  during  the 
profoundest  peace,  human  life  was  scarcely  safe  at  noonday. 

"  By  your  discipline  you  illustrated  the  best  traits  of  the  American  soldier, 
and  enchained  the  admiration  of  those  that  came  to  scoff. 

u  Landing  with  a  military  chest  containing  but  seventy-five  dollars,  from 
the  hoards  of  a  rebel  government  you  have  given  to  your  country's  treasury 
nearly  a  half  million  of  dollars,  and  so  supplied  yourselves  with  the  needs 
of  your  service  that  your  expedition  has  cost  your  government  less  by  four- 
ji'fJis  than  any  other. 


EECALL.  601 

"  Yon  have  fed  the  starving  poor,  the  wives  and  children  of  yonr  enemies, 
so  converting  enemies  into  friends,  that  they  have  sent  their  representatives 
to  your  congress,  hy  a  vote  greater  than  your  entire  numbers,  from  dis- 
tricts in  which,  when  yon  entered,  you  were  tauntingly  told  that  there  was 
'  no  one  to  raise  your  flag.' 

"  By  your  practical  philanthropy  you  have  won  the  confidence  of  the 
-  oppressed  race'  and  the  slave.  Hailing  you  as  deliverers,  they  are  ready 
to  aid  you  as  willing  servants,  faithful  laborers,  or,  using  the  tactics  taught 
them  by  your  enemies,  to  fight  with  you  in  the  field. 

"  By  steady  attention  to  the  laws  of  health,  you  have  stayed  the  pesti- 
lence, and,  humble  instruments  in  the  hands  of  God,  you  have  demon- 
strated the  necessity  that  His  creatures  should  obey  His  laws,  and,  reaping 
His  blessing  in  this  most  unhealthy  climate,  you  have  preserved  your  ranks 
fuller  than  those  of  any  other  battalions  of  the  same  length  of  service. 

"  You  have  met  double  numbers  of  the  enemy,  and  defeated  him  in  the 
open  field ;  but  I  need  not  farther  enlarge  upon  this  topic.  You  were 
sent  here  to  do  that. 

"  I  commend  you  to  your  commander.     You  are  worthy  of  his  love. 

"Farewell,  my  comrades !  again  farewell ! 

"Bexj.  F.  Butler, 
"  Major-  General  Commanding." 

The  general  immediately  prepared  for  his  departure.  As  he  had 
received  no  directions  as  to  his  future  course,  he  presumed  that  the 
place  for  him  to  retire  to  was  his  own  home  at  Lowell.  "  Having 
received  no  further  orders,"  he  wrote  to  the  president,  "  either  to 
report  to  the  commander-in-chief,  or  otherwise,  I  have  taken  the 
liberty  to  suppose  that  I  was  permitted  to  return  home,  my  ser- 
vices being  no  longer  needed  here.  I  have  given  Major-General 
Banks  all  the  information  in  my  power,  and  more  than  he  has 
asked,  in  relation  to  the  affairs  of  this  department." 

The  general's  farewell  order  to  his  troops  called  forth  many 
pleasing  proofs  of  the  strength  of  their  attachment  to  a  commander 
who,  on  all  occasions,  had  made  their  cause  his  own.  Among  the 
letters  of  those  last  days  I  find  one  which,  I  trust,  may  be  printed 
without  impropriety : 

"Lakeport,  December  15,  1862. 
"Major-General  B.  F.  Butlee: 

"Sir: — Last  summer  you  had  occasion  to  reprimand  an  officer  for  an 
unintentional  neglect  of  duty.    Your  manner  and  your  words  sunk  deep  into 


602  RECALL. 

his  memory  ;  and  he  always  wished  some  opportunity  might  present  Itself 
when  he  could  evidence  by  his  actions  his  full  appreciation  of  your  delicate 
reproval.  I  am  that  officer  ;  and,  in  part,  the  wished-for  opportunity  came 
when  I  was  ordered  here.  I  have  tried  to  do  my  duty,  and  feel  that  I  have 
done  it,  because  my  general,  for  whose  command  I  raised  my  company, 
who  never  forgets  to  censure  or  to  reward,  has  not  reproved  me. 

"  For  your  kindness  to  the  soldiers  you  will  ever  be  held  in  loving  re- 
membrance ;  your  past  services  will  be  remembered  by  the  country,  and  be 
rewarded. 

"  Now  that  you  are  to  leave  us,  there  can  be  no  want  of  delicacy  in  my 
thus  expressing  my  feelings.  I  say,  good  fortune  attend  you.  Good-by, 
General ;  God  bless  you ! 

"I  remain,  with  great  regard,  yours  ever  to  command, 

"  John  F.  Appleton,   Captain  commanding  at  LalceporV 

On  the  twenty-third,  there  was  a  public  leave-taking,  when  a 
great  number  of  officers  and  citizens  gathered  round  the  general  to 
bid  him  farewell.  For  two  hours,  a  continuous  procession  of  his 
friends  passed  by  where  he  stood,  and  shook  him  by  the  hand. 
General  Banks  and  his  officers  were  among  them.  Admiral  Farra- 
gut  was  there,  with  many  officers  of  the  fleet. 

It  seemed  good  to  the  general  to  say  a  word  of  farewell  to  the 
people  of  'New  Orleans.  Amid  the  hurry  and  bustle  of  his  depar- 
ture, he  found  time  to  produce  a  Farewell  Address,  so  grand  in  its 
truth,  wisdom,  and  simplicity,  that  it  must  ever  be  regarded  as  one 
of  the  noblest  utterances  of  the  time,  or  of  any  time : 


FAKEWELL  ADDKESS. 

"  Citizens  of  New  Orleans  : — It  may  not  be  inappropriate, 
as  it  is  not  inopportune  in  occasion,  that  there  should  be  addressed 
to  you  a  few  words  at  parting,  by  one  whose  name  is  to  be  here- 
after indissolubly  connected  with  your  city. 

"  I  shall  speak  in  no  bitterness,  because  I  am  not  conscious  of  a 
single  personal  animosity.  Commanding  the  Army  of  the  Gulf,  I 
found  you  captured,  but  not  surrendered ;  conquered,  but  not  or- 
derly; relieved  from  the  presence  of  an  army,  but  incapable  of 
taking   care   of   yourselves.      I  restored   order,   punished  crime, 


RECALL.  603 

opened  commerce,  brought  provisions  to  your  starving  people, 
reformed  your  currency,  and  gave  you  quiet  protection,  such  as 
you  had  not  enjoyed  for  many  years. 

"  While  doing  this,  my  soldiers  were  subjected  to  obloquy,  re- 
proach, and  insult. 

"  And  now,  speaking  to  you,  who  know  the  truth,  I  here  declare 
that  whoever  has  quietly  remained  about  his  business,  affording 
neither  aid  nor  comfort  to  the  enemies  of  the  United  States,  has 
never  been  interfered  with  by  the  soldiers  of  the  United  States. 

"  The  men  who  had  assumed  to  govern  you  and  to  defend  your 
city  in  arms  having  fled,  some  of  your  women  flouted  at  the  pres- 
ence of  those  who  came  to  protect  them.  By  a  simple  order  (No. 
28),  I  called  upon  every  soldier  of  this  army  to  treat  the  women  of 
New  Orleans  as  gentlemen  should  deal  with  the  sex,  with  such 
effect  that  I  now  call  upon  the  just-minded  ladies  of  New  Orleans 
to  say  whether  they  have  ever  enjoyed  so  complete  protection  and 
calm  quiet  for  themselves  and  their  families  as  since  the  advent  of 
the  United  States  troops. 

"  The  enemies  of  my  country,  unrepentant  and  implacable,  I  have 
treated  with  merited  severity.  I  hold  that  rebellion  is  treason, 
and  that  treason  persisted  in  is  death,  and  any  punishment  short  of 
that  due  a  traitor  gives  so  much  clear  gain  to  him  from  the  clem- 
ency of  the  government.  Upon  this  thesis  have  I  administered 
the  authority  of  the  United  States,  because  of  which  I  am  not  un-. 
conscious  of  complaint.  I  do  not  feel  that  I  have  erred  in  too  much 
harshness,  for  that  harshness  has  ever  been  exhibited  to  disloyal 
enemies  to  my  country,  and  not  to  loyal  friends.  To  be  sure,  I 
might  have  regaled  you  with  the  amenities  of  British  civilization, 
and  yet  been  within  the  supposed  rules  of  civilized  warfare.  You 
might  have  been  smoked  to  death  in  caverns,  as  were  the  Cove- 
nanters of  Scotland  by  the  command  of  a  general  of  the  royal  house 
of  England ;  or  roasted,  like  the  inhabitants  of  Algiers  during  the 
French  campaign;  your  wives  and  daughters  might  have  been 
given  over  to  the  ravisher,  as  were  the  unfortunate  dames  of  Spain 
in  the  Peninsular  war ;  or  you  might  have  been  scalped  and  torn 3 
2ti 


604  RECALL. 

nawked  as  our  mothers  were  at  Wyoming  by  the  savage  allies  of 
Great  Britain  in  our  own  Revolution ;  your  property  could  have 
been  turned  over  to  indiscriminate  'loot,'  like  the  palace  of  the 
Emperor  of  China;  works  of  art  which  adorned  your  buildings 
might  have  been  sent  away,  like  the  paintings  of  the  Vatican ;  your 
sons  might  have  been  blown  from  the  mouths  of  cannon,  like  the 
Sepoys  at  Delhi ;  and  yet  all  this  would  have  been  within  the  rules 
of  civilized  warfare  as  practiced  by  the  most  polished  and  the  most 
hypocritical  nations  of  Europe.  For  such  acts  the  records  of  the 
doings  of  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  your  city  toward  the  friends 
of  the  Union,  before  my  coming,  were  a  sufficient  provocative  and 
justification. 

"  But  I  have  not  so  conducted.  On  the  contrary,  the  worst  pun- 
ishment inflicted,  except  for  criminal  acts  punishable  by  every  law, 
has  been  banishment  with  labor  to  a  barren  island,  where  I  en- 
camped my  own  soldiers  before  marching  here. 

"  It  is  true,  I  have  levied  upon  the  wealthy  rebels,  and  paid  out 
nearly  half  a  million  of  dollars  to  feed  40,000  of  the  starving  poor 
of  all  nations  assembled  here,  made  so  by  this  war. 

"I  saw  that  this  rebellion  was  a  war  of  the  aristocrats  against  the 
middling  men — of  the  rich  against  the  poor  ;  a  war  of  the  land-own- 
er against  the  laborer ;  that  it  was  a  struggle  for  the  retention  of 
power  in  the  hands  of  the  few  against  the  many;  and  I  found  no 
conclusion  to  it,  save  in  the  subjugation  of  the  few  and  the  disin- 
thrallment  of  the  many.  I,  therefore,  felt  no  hesitation  in  taking  the 
substance  of  the  wealthy,  who  had  caused  the  war,  to  feed  the  in- 
nocent poor,  who  had  suffered  by  the  war.  And  I  shall  now  leave 
you  with  the  proud  consciousness  that  I  carry  with  me  the  bless- 
ings of  the  humble  and  loyal,  under  the  roof  of  the  cottage  and  in 
the  cabin  of  the  slave,  and  so  am  quite  content  to  incur  the  sneers 
of  the  salon,  or  the  curses  of  the  rich. 

"  I  found  you  trembling  at  the  terrors  of  servile  insurrection.  All 
danger  of  this  I  have  prevented  by  so  treating  the  slave  that  he 
had  no  cause  to  rebel. 

"I  found  the  dungeon,  the  chain,  and  the  lash  your  only  means  of 


RECALL.  60o 

enforcing  obedience  in  your  servants.  I  leave  them  peaceful,  labo- 
rious, controlled  by  the  laws  of  kindness  and  justice. 

"  I  have  demonstrated  that  the  pestilence  can  be  kept  from  your 
borders. 

"  I  have  added  a  million  of  dollars  to  your  wealth  in  the  form  of 
new  land  from  the  batture  of  the  Mississippi. 

"I  have  cleansed  and  improved  your  streets,  canals,  and  public 
squares,  and  opened  new  avenues  to  unoccupied  land. 

M  I  have  given  you  freedom  of  elections  greater  than  you  have  ever 
enjoyed  before. 

"  I  have  caused  justice  to  be  administered  so  impartially  that  your 
own  advocates  have  unanimously  complimented  the  judges  of  my 
appointment.* 

"You  have  seen,  therefore,  the  benefit  of  the  laws  and  justice  of 
the  government  against  which  you  have  rebelled. 

"  Why,  then,  will  you  not  all  return  to  your  allegiance  to  that 
government, — not  with  lip-service,  but  with  the  heart  ? 

"  I  conjure  you,  if  you  desire  ever  to  see  renewed  prosperity,  giv- 
ing business  to  your  streets  and  wharves — if  you  hope  to  see  your 
city  become  again  the  mart  of  the  western  world,  fed  by  its  rivers 
for  more  than  three  thousand  miles,  draining  the  commerce  of  a 
country  greater  than  the  mind  of  man  hath  ever  conceived — return 
to  your  allegiance. 

"  If  you  desire  to  leave  to  your  children  the  inheritance  you  re- 
ceived from  your  fathers — a  stable  constitutional  government ;  if 
you  desire  that  they  should  in  the  future  be  a  portion  of  the  great- 
est empire  the  sun  ever  shone  upon — return  to  your  allegiance. 

"  There  is  but  one  thing  that  stands  in  the  way. 

"  There  is  but  one  thing  that  at  this  hour  stands  between  you  and 
the  government — and  that  is  slavery. 

"  The  institution,  cursed  of  God,  which  has  taken  its  last  refuge 
here,  in  His  providence  will  be  rooted  out  as  the  tares  from  the 
wheat,  although  the  wheat  be  torn  up  with  it. 

*  Upon  the  retirement  of  Major  Bell  from  the  bench  of  the  provost  court,  the  lawyers  and 
others  wno  had  attended  it  presented  to  the  major  a  valuable  cane,  accompanying  the  gift  with 
expressions  of  esteem  and  gratitudo,  far  more  precious  than  any  gift  could  bo. 


606  RECALL. 

"I  have  given  much  thought  to  this  subject. 

"  I  came  among  you,  by  teachings,  by  habit  of  mind,  by  political 
position,  by  social  affinity,  inclined  to  sustain  your  domestic  laws, 
if  by  possibility  they  might  be  with  safety  to  the  Union. 

"  Months  of  experience  and  of  observation  have  forced  the  con- 
viction that  the  existence  of  slavery  is  incompatible  with  the  safety 
either  of  yourselves  or  of  the  Union.  As  the  system  has  gradually 
grown  to  its  present  huge  dimensions,  it  were  best  if  it  could  be 
gradually  removed  ;  but  it  is  better,  far  better,  that  it  should  be 
taken  out  at  once,  than  that  it  should  longer  vitiate  the  social,  po- 
litical and  family  relations  of  your  country.  I  am  speaking  with 
no  philanthropic  views  as  regards  the  slave,  but  simply  of  the 
effect  of  slavery  on  the  master.     See  for  yourselves. 

"  Look  around  you  and  say  whether  this  saddening,  deadening 
influence  has  not  all  but  destroyed  the  very  framework  of  your 
society. 

"  I  am  speaking  the  farewell  words  of  one  who  has  shown  his 
devotion  to  his  country  at  the  peril  of  his  life  and  fortune,  who  in 
these  words  can  have  neither  hope  nor  interest,  save  the  good  of 
those  whom  he  addresses ;  and  let  me  here  repeat,  with  all  the 
solemnity  of  an  appeal  to  Heaven  to  bear  me  witness,  that  such 
are  the  views  forced  upon  me  by  experience. 

"  Come,  then,  to  the  unconditional  support  of  the  government. 
Take  into  your  own  hands  your  own  institutions ;  remodel  them 
according  to  the  laws  of  nations  and  of  God,  and  thus  attain  that 
great  prosperity  assured  to  you  by  geographical  position,  only  a 
portion  of  which  was  heretofore  yours." 

"Benjamin  F.  Butler. 
"  New  Orleans,  Dec.  21th,  1862." 

Where  is  there  a  nobler  piece  than  this?  Where  one  more 
exactly  true?  Where  one  more  irrefragably  wise?  Happy  the 
land  which,  at  a  crisis  of  public  danger,  can  summon  from  the  walks 
of  private  life  a  man  capable,  first,  of  doing  these  things,  and  then  of 
recording  them  in  a  strain  of  such  severe  and  grand  simplicity.    So 


RECALL.  607 

Caesar  might  have  written,  when  Caesar  was  a  patriot.  So  Napo- 
leon, had  Napoleon  been  the  citizen  of  a  free  country.  But  they 
did  not.  The  situation  was  unique,  and  the  piece  stands  alone, 
above  and  beyond  all  the  writings  of  the  great  soldiers  of  the 
world. 

Pei haps  I  may  be  pardoned  for  mentioning  the  effect  which  its 
perusal  produced  upon  one  individual,  the  reader's  most  humble 
and  most  devoted  servant  and  scribe.  He  had  been  for  three  years 
absorbed  in  writing,  or  preparing  to  write,  a  complete  biography 
of  the  greatest  of  all  Yankees,  Benjamin  Franklin.  Upon  reading 
this  farewell  address,  he  was  drawn  irresistibly  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  must  discontinue  that  fascinating  employment  for  a  time, 
and  endeavor  to  inform  his  fellow-citizens  how  it  had  come  to  pass, 
that  a  hunker  democrat,  the  Breckinridge  candidate  for  the  gover- 
norship of  Massachusetts,  a  voter  for  Jefferson  Davis  in  the  Charles- 
ton convention,  had  become  capable,  in  the  course  of  two  years,  of 
writing  General  Butler's  farewell  address  to  the  people  of  New 
Orleans. 

Another  review  of  General  Butler's  administration  has  seen  the 
light.  It  was  written  by  Jefferson  Davis,  who  was  so  considerate 
as  to  defer  its  publication  until  he  had  every  reason  to  suppose  that 
the  general  was  on  his  way  home.  It  was,  in  fact,  published  in 
Richmond  the  day  before  General  Butler  left  New  Orleans,  so  that 
he  never  saw  it  until  his  arrival  at  New  York.  As  every  one  of 
the  short  sentences  in  General  Butler's  address  is  the  simplest 
statement  of  a  fact,  so  each  of  the  paragraphs  of  Jefferson  Davis's 
proclamation  which  relates  to  General  Butler's  conduct  is  the  dis- 
tinct utterance  of  a  lie. 

A  PROCLAMATION. 

BT    THE    PRESIDENT    OF    THE    CONFEDERATE    STATES. 

"  "WnEREAS,  a  communication  was  addressed  on  the  6th  day  of  July  last, 
18G2,  by  General  Eobert  E.  Lee,  acting  under  the  instructions  of  the  secre- 
tary of  war  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  to  General  H.  "W.  Hal- 
leck,  commander-in-chief  of  the  United  States  army,  informing  the  latter 
that  a  report  had  reached  this  government  that  Win.  B.  Mumford,  a  citizen 
of  the  Confederate  States,  had  been  executed  by  the  United  States  authori- 
ties at  New  Orleans  for  having  pulled  down  the  United  States  flag  in  that 
city  before  its  occupation  by  the  United  States  forces,  and  calling  for  a 
statement  of  the  facts,  with  a  view  of  retaliation  if  such  an  outrage  had 


608  RECALL. 

really  been  committed  under  the  sanction  of  the  authorities  of  the  United 
States ; 

"  And  whereas  (no  answer  having  been  received  to  said  letter),  another 
letter  was,  on  the  2d  of  August  last,  1862,  addressed  by  General  Lee,  under 
my  instructions,  to  General  Halleck,  renewing  the  inquiries  in  relation  to 
the  execution  of  the  said  Mumford,  with  the  information  that,  in  the  event 
of  not  receiving  a  reply  within  fifteen  days,  it  would  be  assumed  that  the 
fact  was  true,  and  was  sanctioned  by  the  government  of  the  United  States; 

"And  whereas,  an  answer,  dated  on  the  7th  of  August  last,  1802,  was  ad- 
dressed to  General  Lee  by  General  H.  "VV.  Halleck,  the  said  general-in-chiefof 
the  armies  of  the  United  States,  alleging  sufficient  cause  for  failure  to  make 
early  reply  to  said  letter  of  the  Gth  of  July,  asserting  that  'no  authentic 
information  had  been  received  in  relation  to  the  execution  of  Mumford ;  but 
measures  will  be  immediately  taken  to  ascertain  the  facts  of  the  alleged  ex- 
ecution,' and  promising  that  General  Lee  should  be  duly  informed  thereof; 

"And  whereas,  on  the  26th  of  November  last,  1862,  another  letter  was 
addressed,  under  my  instructions,  by  Robert  Ould,  Confederate  agent  for 
the  exchange  of  prisoners,  under  the  cartel  between  the  two  governments, 
to  Lieutenant-Colonel  "W.  H.  Ludlow,  agent  of  the  United  States  under  said 
cartel,  informing  him  that  the  explanation  promised  in  the  said  letter  of 
General  Halleck,  of  7th  of  August  last,  had  not  yet  been  received,  and 
that  if  no  answer  was  sent  to  the  government  within  fifteen  days  from  the 
delivery  of  this  last  communication,  it  would  be  considered  that  an  answer 
is  declined ; 

"And  whereas,  by  a  letter  dated  on  the  3d  day  of  the  present  month  of 
December,  the  said  Lieutenant-Colonel  Ludlow  apprised  the  said  Robert 
Ould  that  the  above  recited  communication  of  the  19th  of  November  had 
been  received  and  forwarded  to  the  secretary  of  war  of  the  United  States  ; 
and  whereas,  this  last  delay  of  fifteen  days  allowed  for  answer  has  elapsed, 
and  no  answer  has  been  received  ; 

"And  whereas,  in  addition  to  the  tacit  admission  resulting  from  the 
above  refusal  to  answer,  I  have  received  evidence  folly  establishing  the 
truth  of  the  fact  that  the  said  William  B.  Mumford,  a  citizen  of  the  Con- 
federacy, was  actually  and  publicly  executed,  in  cold  blood,  by  hanging, 
after  the  occupation  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans  by  the  forces  under  Gen- 
eral Benjamin  F.  Butler,  when  said  Mumford  was  an  unresisting  and  non- 
combatant  captive,  and  for  no  offense  even  alleged  to  have  been  committed 
by  him  subsequent  to*' the  date  of  the  capture  of  the  said  city; 

"  And  whereas,  the  silence  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and 
its  maintaining  of  said  Butler  in  high  office  under  its  authority  for  many 
months  after  his  commission  of  an  act  that  can  be  viewed  in  no  other  light 
than  as  a  deliberate  murder,  as  well  as  of  numerous  other  outrages  and 
atrocities  hereafter  to  be  mentioned,  afford  evidence  too  conclusive  that  the 


EECALL.  609 

said  government  sanctions  the  conduct  of  the  said  Butler,  and  is  deter- 
mined that  lie  shall  remain  unpunished  for  these  crimes; 

"  Now,  therefore.  I,  Jefferson  Davis,  President  of  the  Confederate  States 
of  America,  and  in  their  name,  do  pronounce  and  declare  the  said  Benjamin 
F.  Butler  to  be  a  felon,  deserving  of  capital  punishment.  I  do  order  that 
he  shall  no  longer  be  considered  or  treated  simply  as  a  public  enemy  of 
the  Confederate  States  of  America,  but  as  an  outlaw  and  common  ene- 
my of  mankind,  and  that,  in  the  event  of  his  capture,  the  officer  in  com- 
mand of  the  capturing  force  do  cause  him  to  be  immediately  executed  by 
hanging. 

"And  I  do  farther  order  that  no  commissioned  officer  of  the  United 
States,  taken  captive,  shall  be  released  on  parole,  before  exchanged,  until 
the  said  Butler  shall  have  met  with  due  punishment  for  his  crimes. 

"  And  whereas,  the  hostilities  waged  against  this  Confederacy  by  the 
forces  of  the  United  States,  under  the  command  of  said  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
have  borne  no  resemblance  to  such  warfare  as  is  alone  permissible  by  the 
rules  of  international  law  or  the  usages  of  civilization,  but  have  been  char- 
acterized by  repeated  atrocities  and  outrages,  among  the  large  number  of 
which  the  following  may  be  cited  as  examples  : 

"  Peaceful  and  aged  citizens,  unresisting  captives  and  non-combatants, 
have  been  confined  at  hard  labor,  with  hard  chains  attached  to  their  limbs, 
and  are  still  so  held,  in  dungeons  and  fortresses. 

"Others  have  been  submitted  to  a  like  degrading  punishment  for  selling 
medicines  to  the  sick  soldiers  of  the  Confederacy. 

"The  soldiers  of  the  United  States  have  been  invited  and  encouraged  in 
general  orders  to  insult  and  outrage  the  wives,  the  mothers,  and  the  sisters 
of  our  citizens. 

"  Helpless  women  have  been  torn  from  their  homes,  and  subjected  to  sol- 
itary confinement,  some  in  fortresses  and  prisons,  and  one  especially  on  an 
island  of  barren  sand,  under  a  tropical  sun  ;  have  been  fed  with  loathsome 
rations  that  have  been  condemned  as  unfit  for  soldiers,  and  have  been  ex- 
posed to  the  vilest  insults. 

"  Prisoners  of  war,  who  surrendered  to  the  naval  forces  of  the  United 
States,  on  agreement  that  they  should  be  released  on  parole,  have  been 
seized  and  kept  in  close  confinement. 

"  Repeated  pretexts  have  been  sought  or  invented  for  plundering  the 
inhabitants  of  a  captured  city,  by  fines  levied  and  collected  under  threats 
of  imprisoning  recusants  at  hard  labor  with  ball  and  chain.  The  entire 
population  of  New  Orleans  have  been  forced  to  elect  between  starvation 
by  the  confiscation  of  all  their  property  and  taking  an  oath  against  con- 
science to  bear  allegiance  to  the  invader  of  their  country. 

"  Egress  from  the  city  has  been  refused  to  those  whose  fortitude  with- 
stood the  test,  and  even  to  lone  and  aged  women,  and  to  helpless  children; 


610  EECALL. 

and,  after  being  ejected  from  their  homes  and  robbed  of  their  property,  they 
have  been  left  to  starve  in  the  streets  or  subsist  on  charity. 

"The  slaves  have  been  driven  from  the  plantations  in  the  neighborhood 
of  New  Orleans  until  their  owners  would  consent  to  share  their  crops  with 
the  commanding  general,  his  brother,  Andrew  J.  Butler,  and  other  officers ; 
and  when  such  consent  had  been  extorted,  the  slaves  have  been  restored  to 
the  plantations,  and  there  compelled  to  work  under  the  bayonets  of  the 
guards  of  United  States  soldiers.  Where  that  partnership  was  refused, 
armed  expeditions  have  been  sent  to  the  plantations  to  rob  them  of  every- 
thing that  was  susceptible  of  removal. 

"  And  even  slaves,  too  aged  or  infirm  for  work,  have,  in  spite  of  their 
entreaties,  been  forced  from  the  homes  provided  by  their  owners,  and  driv- 
en to  wander  helpless  on  the  highway. 

"  By  a  recent  General  Order  No.  91,  the  entire  property  in  that  part  of 
Louisiana  west  of  the  Mississippi  river  has  been  sequestrated  for  confisca- 
tion, and  officers  have  been  assigned  to  duty,  with  orders  to  gather  up  and 
collect  the  personal  property,  and  turn  over  to  the  proper  officers,  upon 
their  receipts,  such  of  said  property  as  may  be  required  for  the  use  of  the 
United  States  army ;  to  collect  together  all  the  other  personal  property  and 
bring  the  same  to  New  Orleans,  and  cause  it  to  be  sold  at  public  auction  to 
highest  bidders — an  order  which,  if  executed,  condemns  to  punishment, 
by  starvation,  at  least  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  human  beings,  of  all  ages, 
sexes,  and  conditions,  and  of  which  the  execution,  although  forbidden  to 
military  officers  by  the  orders  of  President  Lincoln,  is  in  accordance  with 
the  confiscation  law  of  our  enemies,  which  he  has  effected  to  be  enforced 
through  the  agency  of  civil  officials. 

"  And,  finally,  the  African  slaves  have  not  only  been  incited  to  insurrec- 
tion by  every  license  and  encouragement,  but  numbers  of  them  have  actu- 
ally been  armed  for  a  servile  war — a  war  in  its  nature  far  exceeding  the 
horrors  and  most  merciless  atrocities  of  savages. 

"  And  whereas,  the  officers  under  command  of  the  said  Butler  have  been, 
in  many  instances,  active  and  zealous  agents  in  the  commission  of  these 
crimes,  and  no  instance  is  known  of  the  refusal  of  any  one  of  them  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  outrages  above  narrated  ; 

"And  whereas,  the  president  of  the  United  States  has,  by  public  and 
official  declarations,  signified  not  only  his  approval  of  the  effort  to  excite 
servile  war  within  the  Confederacy,  but  his  intention  to  give  aid  and  en- 
couragement thereto,  if  these  independent  states  shall  continue  to  refuse 
submission  to  a  foreign  power  after  the  1st  day  of  January  next,  and  has 
thus  made  known  that  all  appeal  to  the  law  of  nations,  the  dictates  of  rea- 
son, and  the  instincts  of  humanity  would  be  addressed  in  vain  to  our  ene- 
mies, and  that  they  can  be  deterred  from  the  commission  of  these  crimes 
only  by  the  terrors  of  just  retribution  ; 


RECALL.  611 

"Xow,  therefore,  I,  Jefferson  Davis,  president  of  the  Confederate  States 
of  America,  and  acting  by  their  authority,  appealing  to  the  Divine  Judge 
in  attestation  that  their  conduct  is  not  guided  by  the  passion  of  revenge, 
but  that  they  reluctantly  yield  to  the  solemn  duty  of  redressing,  by  neces- 
sary severity,  crimes  of  which  their  citizens  are  the  victims,  do  issue  this 
my  proclamation,  and,  by  virtue  of  my  authority  as  commander-in-chief  of . 
the  armies  of  the  Confederate  States,  do  order — 

"  First — That  all  commissioned  officers  in  the  command  of  said  Benjamin 
F.  Butler  be  declared  not  entitled  to  be  considered  as  soldiers  engaged  in 
honorable  warfare,  but  as  robbers  and  criminals,  deserving  death ;  and  that 
they  and  each  of  them  be,  whenever  captured,  reserved  for  execution. 

"Second — That  the  private  soldiers  and  non-commissioned  officers  in  the 
army  of  said  Butler  be  considered  as  only  the  instruments  used  for  the 
commission  of  crimes  perpetrated  by  his  orders,  and  not  as  free  agents ;  that 
they,  therefore,  be  treated  when  captured  as  prisoners  of  war,  with  kind- 
ness and  humanity,  and  be  sent  home  on  the  usual  parole  that  they  will  in 
no  manner  aid  or  serve  the  United  States  in  any  capacity  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  this  war,  unless  duly  exchanged. 

"  Third — That  all  negro  slaves  captured  in  arms  be  at  once  delivered 
over  to  the  executive  authorities  of  the  respective  states  to  which  they  be- 
long, to  be  dealt  with  according  to  the  law  of  said  states. 

"  Fourth — That  the  like  orders  be  issued  in  all  cases  with  respect  to  the 
commissioned  officers  of  the  United  States  when  found  serving  in  company 
with  said  slaves  in  insurrection  against  the  authorities  of  the  different  states 
of  this  Confederacy. 

"  In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  signed  these  presents,  and  caused  the  seal 
of  the  Confederate  States  of  America  to  be  affixed  thereto,  at  the  city  of 
."Richmond,  on  the  23d  day  of  December,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  sixty-two. 

"Jefferson  Davis. 
"  By  the  President. 

"J.  P.  Benjamin,  Secretary  of  State.'''' 

All  unconscious  of  this  fulraination,  General  Butler  engaged 
passage  in  an  unarmed  transport.  On  the  morning  of  his  depart- 
ure, December  24th,  the  levee  was  crowded  with  a  concourse  of 
people  extremely  different  in  their  demeanor  and  their  feelings 
from  the  angry  and  tumultuous  throng  which  howled  defiance  at 
him  when  he  landed  on  the  first  of  May.  He  spent  his  last  hour 
with  Admiral  Farragut  on  board  the  flag-ship  Hartford,  endeared 
to  both  of  them  by  glorious  recollections.  "  Admiral  Farragut  is 
one  of  the  men  I  love,"  the  general  frequently  remarks.     He  had 


612  RECALL. 

given  the  admiral  a  salute  when  the  news  came  of  his  promotion  to 
his  present  nobly- Avon  rank  in  the  naval  service,  and  the  admiral,  in 
acknowledging  the  honor  done  him,  had  promised  to  return  the 
compliment,  with  "  interest,"  on  the  first  opportunity.  So,  amid 
the  thunder  of  the  Hartford's  great  guns,  mingling  with  that  of 
a  battery  on  shore,  and  the  cheers  of  a  great  crowd  of  soldiers 
and  citizens,  the  general  and  his  family  waved  farewell  to  New 
Orleans. 

On  the  voyage  home,  he  passed  within  six  hours  sail  of  the 
Alabama — a  fact  which  derives  some  interest  from  such  paragraphs 
as  the  following : 

"Ten  Thousand  Dollaes  Rewaed!— $10,000!— President  Davis  hav- 
ing proclaimed  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  of  Massachusetts,  to  be  a  felon,  deser- 
ving of  capital  punishment,  for  the  deliberate  murder  of  Win.  B.  Mumford, 
a  citizen  of  the  Confederate  States  at  New  Orleans ;  and  having  ordered 
that  the  said  Benjamin  F.  Butler  be  considered  or  treated  as  an  outlaw  and 
comiron  enemy  of  mankind,  and  that,  in  the  event  of  his  capture,  the  offi- 
cer in  command  of  the  capturing  force  do  cause  him  to  be  immediately  ex- 
ecuted by  hanging,  the  undersigned  hereby  offers  a  reward  of  ten  thousand 
dollars  ($10,000)  for  the  capture  and  delivery  of  the  said  Benjamin  F.  But- 
ler,  dead  or  alive,  to  any  proper  Confederate  authority. 

"RicnAED  Yeadon. 

"Chaeleston,  S.  C,  January  1." 

"  A  daughter  of  South  Carolina  writes  to  the  Charleston  Courier  from 
Darlington  District : 

" '  I  propose  to  spin  the  thread  to  make  the  cord  to  execute  the  order  of 
our  noble  president,  Davis,  when  old  Butler  is  caught,  and  my  daughter 
asks  that  she  may  be  allowed  to  adjust  it  around  his  neck.'  " 

After  the  departure  of  General  Butler  from  New  Orleans,  his  suc- 
cessor gave  a  fair  trial  to  the  policy  of  conciliation.  Its  failure  was 
immediate,  complete,  and  undeniable.  "These  southern  people," 
remarks  an  English  writer  who  went  to  New  Orleans  with  Genera! 
Banks,  "with  their  oriental  civilization  and  institution,  cherish 
something  of  the  eastern  impression  that  kindness  and  conciliation 
imply  weakness,  originating  in  a  fear  of  inflicting  punishment. 
They  hated  Butler  and  feared  him  ;  now  the  more  foolish  sort  hope 
for  a  certain  amount  of  impunity  to  the  treason  yet  latent  nmong 
them."    General  Banks  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  attempt  to  win 


AT   HOME.  613 

the  enemies  of  his  country  by  soft  words  and  lenient  measures. 
The  testimony  of  notorious  and  unquestionable  facts  has  shown  the 
country,  that,  in  so  far  as  General  Banks  has  adopted  the  policy  of 
his  predecessor,  his  administration  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf 
has  been  successful,  and  that,  in  so  far  as  he  has  essentially  depart- 
ed from  that  policy,  his  administration  has  been  a  failure.  I  had 
collected  a  great  deal  of  evidence  on  this  point,  but  as  every  wit- 
ness tells  the  same  story,  and  the  facts  are  familiar  to  most  of  us, 
I  will  not  increase  the  magnitude  of  this  too  portly  volume  by  de- 
tailing it.  The  Iron  Hand,  and  that  alone,  till  slavery  is  every- 
where abolished,  will  keep  down  the  insolent  and  remorseless 
faction  who  have  brought  such  woful  and  wide-spread  ruin  upon 
the  southern  states.  Slavery  dead,  the  bitterness  of  that  faction  is 
as  harmless  as  a  cooing  dove.  Jefferson  Davis,  representing  free 
Mississippi,  would  be  innoxious  in  the  senate  itself.  To  kill 
slavery  is  to  extract  the  poison  from  the  fangs  of  all  those  deadly 
foes  of  their  country  and  their  kind.  Till  that  is  done,  there  is  no 
safety  but  in  the  iron  rule. 


CHAPTER  XXXHI. 


AT    HOME. 

And  why  was  he  recalled  from  the  Department  of  the  Gulf?  It 
was  natural  that  the  general  himself  should  feel  some  curiosity 
upon  this  subject.     His  curiosity  has  not  been  gratified. 

Upon  reaching  New  York,  he  found  a  letter  from  the  president, 
requesting  his  presence  at  Washington.  He  was  received  by  all 
the  members  of  the  government  with  the  cordiality  and  considera- 
tion due  to  his  eminent  services.  He  asked  the  president  the  rea- 
son of  his  recall,  and  the  president  referred  him  to  the  secretary  of 
state  and  the  secretary  of  war,  who,  he  said,  had  recommended  the 
measure.  The  general  then  turned  to  Mr.  Stanton.  Mr.  Stanton 
replied,  that  the  reason  was  one  which  did  not  imply,  on  the  part. 


C14  AT   HOME. 

of  the  government,  any  want  of  confidence  in  his  honor  as  a  man, 
or  in  his  ability  as  a  commander. 

"  Well,"  said  the  general,  "  you  have  now  told  me  what  I  was 
not  recalled  for.     I  now  ask  you  to  tell  me  what  I  was  recalled  for." 

"  You  and  I,"  answered  Mr.  Stanton,  laughing,  "  are  both  law- 
yers, and  it  is  of  no  use  you're  filing  a  bill  of  discovery  upon  me, 
for  I  sha'n't  tell  you." 

And  that  is  all  the  explanation  which  the  government  has  vouch- 
safed to  him.  We  are  justified,  however,  in  concluding,  that  ht 
was  recalled  for  the  purpose  of  conciliating  the  French  government, 
which  had  expressed  disapproval  of  his  course  toward  the  "  foreign 
neutrals"  of  Louisiana. 

The  question  then  occurs :  Has  the  French  government  been  con- 
ciliated ?  Has  the  policy  of  conciliation  been  successful  ?  Has  it 
done  any  good  to  deprive  the  country  of  the  services  of  one  of  its 
ablest  administrators  ?  The  recent  scenes  in  the  harbor  of  Brest 
appear  to  answer  the  question. 

General  Butler's  claim  to  be  the  senior  major-general  chanced  to 
become  a  subject  of  conversation  at  the  White  House  on  this  oc- 
casion. Without  having  bestowed  much  thought  upon  the  matter, 
he  had  innocently  taken  it  for  granted  that  a  major-general,  who 
had  won  his  rank  and  received  his  commission  several  weeks  before 
any  other  major-general  had  been  appointed,  must  necessarily  be 
the  senior  major-general.  "  The  president,"  as  he  afterward  re- 
marked in  the  formal  statement  of  his  claim,  requested  by  the  sec- 
retary of  war,  "  has  power  to  do  many  things ;  but  it  has  been  said 
that  even  '  an  act  of  parliament  could  not  make  one's  uncle  his  aunt.' 
How  then  can  the  president  make  a  junior  officer  a  senior  officer  in 
the  same  grade  ?  I  grant  that  the  president  can  put  the  junior  ia 
command  of  the  senior,  but  it  took  an  act  of  congress  to  enable  the 
president  to  do  that.  But  there  is  no  act  of  congress  which  has  or 
can  settle  seniority  of  rank  otherwise  than  as  the  almanac,  taking 
note  of  the  lapse  of  time,  has  settled  it." 

The  president  said  that  he  knew  nothing  about  the  dates  of  the 
several  commissions. 

"  I  only  know,"  said  he,  "  that  I  gave  you  your  commission  the 
first  of  anybody." 

The  board  of  officers,  to  whom  the  question  was  referred,  decided 
that   the  president  was  not  bound  by  the  almanac  in  dating  com- 


AT   HOME.  615 

missions,  and  could  make  a  junior  senior  if  he  pleased.  Conse- 
quently, General  McClellan,  General  Fremont,  General  Dix,  and 
General  Banks,  all  of  whom  were  appointed  many  weeks  after  Gen- 
eral Butler,  take  rank  before  him.  This  is  a  small  matter,  hardly 
worth  mentioning.  It  is  merely  one  instance  more  of  the  systematic 
snubbing  with  which  one  of  the  very  few  men  of  first-rate  executive 
ability  in  the  public  service  has  been  rewarded. 

In  conversing  with  the  president  upon  the  negro  question,  the 
general  said  that  if  it  was  considered  necessary  to  abolitionize  the 
Avhole  army,  it  was  only  necessary  to  give  each  corps  a  turn  of  ser- 
vice in  the  extreme  south,  where,  as  General  Phelps  remarked,  the 
institution  exists  "in  all  its  pride  and  gloom." 

It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  the  only  members  of  the  diplomatic 
corps  at  Washington,  who  called  upon  the  general,  were  the  Rus- 
sian minister  and  the  representative  of  the  free  city  of  Bremen. 
The  friends  and  the  foes  of  the  United  States,  also  the  "  neutral" 
powers,  appear  to  have  an  instinctive  perception  of  the  fact,  that 
General  Butler  is  the  Union  Cause  incarnate. 

The  people,  I  need  not  say,  gave  the  returning  general  a  recep- 
tion that-left  no  doubt  in  his  mind  that  his  labors  in  the  southwest 
were  understood  and  appreciated  by  his  fellow-citizens.  Baltimore, 
"Washington,  New  York,  Boston,  Lowell,  Philadelphia,  Harrisburgh, 
and  Portland,  have  each  received  him  with  every  circumstance 
which  could  enhance  the  dignity  or  the  eclat  of  an  honorable  wel- 
come. 

Or,  to  use  the  language  of  the  Richmond  Examiner : 

"  After  inflicting  innumerable  tortures  upon  an  innocent  and  un- 
armed people;  after  outraging  the  sensibilities  of  civilized  humanity 
by  his  brutal  treatment  of  women  and  children ;  after  placing  bayo- 
nets in  the  hands  of  slaves ;  after  peculation  the  most  prodigious, 
and  lies  the  most  infamous,  he  returns,  reeking  with  crime,  to  his 
own  people,  and  they  receive  him  with  acclamations  of  joy  in  a 
manner  that  befits  him  and  becomes  themselves.  Nothing  is  out 
of  keeping ;  his  whole  career  and  its  rewards  are  strictly  artistic  in 
conception  and  in  execution.  He  was  a  thief.  A  sword  that  he  had 
stolen  from  a  woman — the  niece  of  the  brave  Twiggs — was  pre- 
sented to  him  as  a  reward  of  valor.  He  had  violated  the  laws  of 
God  and  man.  The  law-makers  of  the  United  States  voted  him 
thanks,  and  the  preachers  of  the  Yankee  gospel  of  blood  came  to 


616  AT   HOME. 

him  and  worshiped  hira.  He  had  broken  into  the  safes  and  strong 
boxes  of  merchants.  The  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce  gave 
him  a  dinner.  He  had  insulted  women.  Things  in  female  attire 
lavished  harlot  smiles  upon  him.  He  was  a  murderer,  and  a  nation 
of  assassins  have  deified  him.  He  is  at  this  time  the  representative 
man  of  a  people  lost  to  all  shame,  to  all  humanity,  all  honor,  all 
virtue,  all  manhood.  Cowards  by  nature,  thieves  upon  principle, 
and  assassins  at  heart,  it  wrould  be  marvelous,  indeed,  if  the  people 
of  the  North  refused  to  render  homage  to  Benjamin  Butler — the 
beastliest,  bloodiest  poltroon  and  pickpocket  the  world  ever  saw." 

Or,  to  borrow  the  words  of  the  New  York  World; 

"  The  warm  applause  with  which  he  was  greeted  by  a  great  pub- 
lic assembly  in  this  Christian  city,  is  a  phenomenon  as  shocking  to  a 
cultivated  moral  sense  as  the  mode  of  propagating  religion  in  ages 
when  the  rack  and  the  stake  were  approved  means  of  grace.  This 
discreditable  applause  is  a  new  testimony  to  the  barbarizing  effects 
of  civil  war.  It  exemplifies  the  rude  logic  of  violent  passions, 
which,  assuming  a  sacred  end  for  its  premises,  infers  that  any 
means  are  justifiable  for  its  attainment." 

Or  we  might  quote  the  comments  of  the  Londo?i  Times,  since 
there  is  the  most  perfect  accord  on  this  subject  between  rebels, 
peace  democrats  and  foreign  neutrals. 

Perhaps,  however,  the  reader  may  incline  to  the  opinion  of  the 
hundred  merchants  of  New  York,  as  expressed  in  their  letter  invi- 
ting the  general  to  a  public  dinner  : 

"  They  share  with  you  the  conviction  that  there  is  no  middle  or 
neutral  ground  between  loyalty  and  treason ;  that  traitors  against 
the  government  forfeit  all  rights  of  protection  and  of  property ; 
that  those  who  persist  in  armed  rebellion,  or  aid  it  less  openly  but 
not  less  effectively,  must  be  put  down  and  kept  down  by  the  strong 
hand  of  power  and  by  the  use  of  all  rightful  means,  and  that  so  far 
as  may  be,  the  sufferings  of  the  poor  and  misguided,  caused  by  the 
rebellion,  should  be  visited  upon  the  authors  of  their  calamities. 
We  have  seen,  with  approbation,  that  in  applying  these  principles, 
amidst  the  peculiar  difficulties  and  embarrassments  incident  to 
your  administration  in  your  recent  command,  you  have  had  the 
sagacity  to  devise,  the  will  to  execute,  and  the  courage  to  enforce 
the  measures  which  they  demanded,  and  we  rejoice  at  the  suc- 
cess which  has  vindicated  the  wisdom  and  the  justice  of  your  offi 


AT   HOME.  G17 

cial  course.  In  thus  congratulating  you  upon  these  results,  we 
believe  that  we  express  the  feeling  of  all  those  who  most  earn- 
estly desire  the  speedy  restoration  of  the  Union  in  its  full  integrity 
and  power." 

The  public  dinner  was  declined.  "  I  too  well  know,"  replied  the 
general,  "the  revulsion  of  feeling  with  which  the  soldier  in  the 
field,  occupying  the  trenches,  pacing  the  sentinel's  weary  path  in 
the  blazing  heat,  or  watching  from  his  cold  bivouac  the  stars  shut 
out  by  the  drenching  cloud,  hears  of  feasting  and  merry-making  at 
home  by  those  who  ought  to  bear  his  hardships  with  him,  and  the 
bitterness  with  which  he  speaks  of  those  who,  thus  engaged,  are 
wearing  his  uniform.  Upon  the  scorching  sand,  and  under  the 
brain-trying  sun  of  the  gulf  coast,  I  have  too  much  shared  that 
feeling  to  add  one  pang,  however  slight,  to  the  discomfort  which 
my  fellow-soldiers  suffer,  doing  the  duties  of  the  camp  and  field,  by 
my  own  act,  while  separated  momentarily  from  them  by  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  public  service." 

Not  the  less  did  the  city  of  New  York  respond  to  the  sentiments 
of  the  merchants'  letter.  The  scene  at  the  Academy  of  Music,  on 
the  evening  of  the  2d  of  April,  1863,  when  General  Butler  advanced 
to  the  front  of  the  stage,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  the  youngest 
person  who  witnessed  it.  The  house  was  crowded  to  the  remotest 
standing-place  of  the  amphitheater.  The  immense  stage  was  filled 
with  the  citizens  of  whom  New  York  is  proudest.  When  the  gen- 
eral appeared,  the  audience  sprang  to  their  feet,  and  gave,  not  three 
cheers,  nor  three  times  three  and  one  cheer  more,  but  a  unanimous, 
long-sustained  roar  of  cheers,  with  a  universal  waving  of  hats  and 
handkerchiefs.  Several  minutes  elapsed  before  silence  was  restored. 
General  Butler  spoke  for  two  hours,  interrupted  at  every  other 
sentence  with  enthusiastic  applause.  At  Boston,  in  old  Faneuil 
Hall,  he  could  not  escape  from  the  crowd  till  he  had  shaken  three 
thousand  hands. 

Since  the  return  of  General  Butler  to  the  North,  he  has,  on  all 
occasions,  public  and  private,  given  to  the  administration  a  most 
hearty  and  unwavering  support.  A  man  less  magnanimous,  or  less 
patriotic,  would  have  been  tempted  to,  at  least,  a  silent  resentment 
at  the  censure  of  his  conduct  implied  in  his  sudden  and  unexplained 
recall,  and  the  repeated  refusal  of  the  government  to  comply  with 
the  desire  expressed  on  so  many  occasions  for  his  employment  in 


618  AT  HOME. 

the  cabinet  and  in  the  field.  On  the  contrary,  he  has  used  the 
whole  of  his  influence  in  sustaining  the  government. 

"  The  present  government,"  he  said,  in  his  speech  of  April  2d,  at 
New  York,  "  was  not  the  government  of  my  choice.  I  did  not 
vote  for  it,  nor  for  any  part  of  it ;  but  it  is  the  government  of  my 
country ;  it  is  the  only  organ  by  which  I  can  exert  the  force  of  the 
country  to  protect  its  integrity ;  and  as  long  as  I  believe  that  gov- 
ernment to  be  honestly  administered,  I  will  throw  a  mantle  over  any 
mistakes  that  I  may  think  it  has  made,  and  support  it  heartily,  with 
hand  and  purse,  so  help  me  God  !  I  have  no  loyalty  to  any  man 
or  men.  My  loyalty  is  to  the  government ;  and  it  makes  no  differ- 
ence to  me  who  the  people  have  chosen  to  administer  the  govern- 
ment. So  long  as  the  choice  has  been  constitutionally  made,  and 
the  persons  so  chosen  hold  their  places  and  powers,  I' am  a  traitor 
and  a  false  man  if  I  falter  in  my  support.  This  is  what  I  under- 
stand to  be  loyalty  to  a  government." 

Perhaps  a  few  sentences  and  paragraphs  from  General  Butler's 
recent  speeches  may  be  in  place  here,  to  indicate  his  present  opin- 
ions upon  the  momentous  issues  upon  which  the  people  are  called, 
from  time  to  time,  to  express  their  judgment. 

SLAVEEY. 

"  I  think  T  may  say  that  the  principal  members  of  my  staff,  and  the  prom- 
inent officers  of  my  regiments,  without  any  exception,  went  out  to  New 
Orleans  hunker  democrats  of  the  hunkerest  sort;  for  it  was  but  natural 
that  I  should  draw  around  me  those  whose  views  were  similar  to  my  own; 
and  every  individual  of  the  number  has  come  to  precisely  the  same  belief 
on  the  question  of  slavery,  as  I  put  forth  in  my  farewell  address  to  the  peo- 
ple of  New  Orleans.  This  change  came  about  from  seeing  what  all  of  them 
saw,  day  by  day.  In  this  war  the  entire  property  of  the  South  is  against 
us,  because  almost  the  entire  property  of  the  South  is  bound  up  in  that  in- 
stitution. This  is  a  well-known  fact,  probably ;  but  I  did  not  become  fully 
aware  of  it  until  I  had  spent  some  time  in  New  Orleans.  The  South  has 
$103,000,000  of  taxable  property  in  slaves,  and  $163,000,000  in  all  other 
kinds  of  property.  And  this  was  the  cause  why  the  merchants  of  New 
Orleans  had  not  remained  loyal.  They  found  themselves  ruined — all  their 
property  being  loaned  upon  planters'  notes,  and  mortgages  upon  plantations 
and  slaves,  all  of  which  property  is  now  worthless.  Again  I  learned,  what 
I  did  not  know  before,  that  this  is  not  a  rebellion  against  us,  but  simply  a 
rebellion  to  perpetuate  power  in  the  hands  of  a  few  slave-holders.     At  first 


AT   HOME.  619 

I  did  not  believe  that  slavery  was  the  cause  of  the  rebellion,  but  attributed 
it  to  Davis,  Slidell,  and  others,  who  had  brought  it  about  to  make  political 
triumphs  by  which  to  regain  their  former  ascendency.  The  rebellion  is 
against  the  humble  and  poorer  classes  ;  and  there  were  in  the  South  large 
numbers  of  secret  societies  dealing  in  cabalistic  signs,  organized  for  the  pur- 
pose of  perpetuating  the  power  of  the  rich  over  the  poor.  It  was  feared 
that  these  common  people  would  come  into  power,  and  that  three  or  four 
hundred  thousand  men  could  not  hold  out  against  eight  millions.  The  first 
movement  of  these  men  was  to  make  land  the  basis  of  political  power,  and 
that  was  not  enough,  for  land  could  not  be  owned  by  many  persons.  Then 
they  annexed  land  to  slaves,  and  divided  the  property  into  movable  and 
immovable. 

"I  am  not  generally  accused  of  being  a  humanitarian — at  least,  not  by 
my  southern  friends.  When  I  saw  the  utter  demoralization  of  the  people, 
resulting  from  slavery,  it  struck  me  that  it  was  an  institution  which  should 
be  thrust  out  of  the  Union.  I  had,  on  reading  Mrs.  Stowe's  book — Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin — believed  it  to  be  an  overdrawn,  highly-wrought  picture  of 
southern  life  ;  but  I  have  seen  with  my  own  eyes,  and  heard  with  my  own 
ears,  many  things  which  go  beyond  her  book,  as  much  as  her  book  does 
beyond  an  ordinary  school-girl's  novel.       ***** 

"  Yes,  no  right-minded  man  could  be  sent  to  New  Orleans  without  re- 
turning an  unconditional  anti-slavery  man,  even  though  the  roof  of  the 
houses  were  not  taken  off,  and  the  full  extent  of  the  corruption  exposed. 

"The  war  can  only  be  successfully  prosecuted  by  the  destruction  of 
slavery,  which  was  made  the  corner-stone  of  the  confederacy.  This  is  the 
second  time  in  the  history  of  the  world  that  a  rebellion  of  property-holders 
against  the  lower  classes  and  against  the  government  was  ever  carried  on. 
The  Hungarian  rebellion  was  one  of  that  kind,  and  that  failed,  as  must  every 
rebellion  of  men  of  property  against  government  and  against  the  rights  of 
the  many.  One  of  the  greatest  arguments  which  I  can  find  against  slavery 
is  the  demoralizing  influences  it  exerts  upon  the  lower  white  classes,  who 
were  brought  into  secession  by  the  hundred  because  they  ignorantly  sup- 
posed that  great  wrong  was  to  be  done  them  by  the  Lincoln  government, 
as  they  termed  it,  if  the  North  succeeded.  Therefore,  if  you  meet  an  old 
hunker  democrat,  and  send  him  for  sixty  days  to  New  Orleans,  and  he 
comes  back  a  hunker  still,  he  is  merely  incorrigible.  There  is  one  thing 
about  the  president's  edict  of  emancipation  to  which  I  would  call  atten- 
tion. In  Louisiana  he  had  excepted  from  freedom  about  eighty-seven 
thousand  slaves.  These  comprise  all  the  negroes  held  in  the  Lafourche 
district,  who  have  been  emancipated  already  for  some  time  under  the  law 
which  frees  slaves  taken  in  rebellious  territory  by  our  armies.  Others  of 
these  negroes  had  been  freed  by  the  proclamation  of  September,  which 
declared  all  slaves  to  be  free  whose  owners  should  be  in  arms  on  the  first 


C20  AT  HOME. 

of  January.  The  slaves  of  Frenchmen  were  free  because  the  Code  Civile 
expressly  prohibits  a  Frenchman  from  holding  slaves,  and,  by  the  7th  and 
8th  Victoria,  every  Englishman  holding  slaves  subjects  himself  to  a  pen- 
alty of  $500  for  each.  Now,  take  the  negroes  of  secessionists,  French- 
men and  Englishmen  out  of  the  eighty-seven  thousand,  and  the  number  is 
reduced  to  an  infinitesimal  portion  of  those  excepted.  This  fact  came  to 
my  knowledge  from  having  required  every  inhabitant  in  the  city  to  register 
his  nationality.  After  all  these  names  had  been  fairly  registered,  I  ex- 
plained these  laws  to  the  English  and  French  consuls,  and  thus  replied  to 
demands  which  had  been  made  by  English  and  French  residents  of  Loui- 
siana upon  the  government  for  slaves  alleged  to  have  been  seized."* 

THE   WAE   DEBT. 

UA  question  has  been  a  thousand  times  asked  me  since  I  arrived 
home,  how  is  this  great  war  debt  to  be  paid  ?  That  speaks  to  the  material 
interests.  How  can  we  ever  be  able  to  pay  this  war  debt  ?  "Who  can  pay 
it  ?  Who  shall  pay  it  ?  Shall  we  tax  the  coming  generations  ?  Shall  we 
overtax  ourselves  ?  For  one — and  I  speak  as  a  citizen  to  citizens — I  think 
I  can  see  clearly  a  way  in  which  this  great  expense  can  be  paid  by  those 
who  ought  to  pay  it,  and  be  borne  by  those  who  ought  to  bear  it.  Let 
us  bring  the  South  into  subjection  to  the  Union.  We  have  offered  them 
equality.  If  they  choose  it,  let  them  have  it.  But,  at  all  events,  they 
must  come  under  the  power  of  the  Union.  And  when  once  this  war  ia 
closed  by  that  subjugation,  if  you  please,  if  necessary,  then  the  increased 
productions  of  the  great  staples  of  the  South,  cotton  and  tobacco — with 
which  we  ought,  and  can,  and  shall  supply  the  world — this  increased  pro- 
duction, by  the  immigration  of  white  men  into  the  South,  where  labor  shall 
be  honorable  as  it  is  here,  will  pay  the  debt.  With  the  millions  of  hogs- 
heads of  the  one,  and  the  millions  of  bales  of  the  other,  and  with  a 
proper  internal  tax,  which  shall  be  paid  by  England  and  France,  who  have 
largely  caused  this  mischief,  this  debt  will  be  paid.  Without  stopping  to 
be  didactic  or  to  discuss  principles  here,  let  us  examine  this  matter  for  a 
moment.  They  are  willing  to  pay  fifty  and  sixty  cents  a  pound  for  cotton  ; 
the  past  has  demonstrated  that  even  by  the  uneconomical  use  of  slave  labor, 
it  can  be  profitably  raised — ay,  profitably  beyond  all  conception  of  agri- 
cultural profit  here — at  ten  cents  a  pound.  A  simple  impost  of  ten  cents 
a  pound,  which  will  increase  it  to  twenty  cents  only,  will  pay  the  interest  of  a 
war  debt  double  what  it  is  to-day.  And  that  cotton  can  be  more  profitably 
raised  under  free  labor  than  under  slave  labor,  no  man  who  has  examined 
the  subject  doubts.  By  the  imposition  of  this  tax  those  men  who  fitted 
out  the  Alabama  and  sent  her  forth  to  prey  upon  our  commerce,  will  be 

*  Speech  at  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  New  York,  Jan.  8, 1S53. 


AT   HOME.  621 

compelled  by  the  laws  of  trade  and  the  laws  of  nations  to  pay  for  the  mis- 
chief they  have  done.  So  that  when  we  look  around  in  this  country, 
which  has  just  begun  to  put  forth  her  strength,  because  no  country  has 
ever  come  to  her  full  strength  until  her  institutions  have  proved  themselves 
strong  enough  to  govern  the  country  against  the  will,  even  the  voluntary 
will  of  the  people — when  this  government,  which  has  now  demonstrated 
itself  to  be  the  strongest  government  in  the  world,  puts  forth  her  strength 
as  to  men,  and  when  this  country  of  ours,  richer  and  more  abundant  in  its 
harvests  and  in  its  productions  than  any  other  country  on  earth,  puts  forth 
her  riches,  we  have  a  strength  in  men,  we  have  an  amount  in  money,  to 
battle  the  world  for  liberty,  and  for  the  freedom  to  do,  in  the  borders  of 
the  United  States  and  on  the  continent  of  America,  that  which  God,  when 
he  sent  us  forth  as  a  missionary  nation,  intended  we  should  do.  So,  allow 
me  to  return  your  words  of  congratulation  and  your  words  of  welcome, 
with  words  of  good  cheer.  Be  of  good  cheer!  God  gave  us  this  conti- 
nent to  civilize  and  to  free,  as  an  example  to  the  nations  of  the  earth  ;  and 
if  He  has  struck  us  in  His  wrath,  because  we  have  halted  in  our  work,  let 
us  begin  again  and  go  on,  not  doubting  that  we  shall  have  His  blessing  to  the 
end.  Be,  therefore,  I  say,  of  good  cheer ;  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  this 
issue.  We  feel  the  struggle ;  we  feel  what  it  costs  to  carry  on  this  war. 
Go  with  me  to  Louisiana — go  with  me  to  the  South,  and  you  shall  see 
what  it  costs  our  enemies  to  carry  on  this  war ;  and  you  will  have  no 
doubt,  as  I  have  none,  of  the  result  of  this  unhappy  strife,  out  of  which 
the  nation  shall  come  stronger,  better,  purified,  North  and  South — better 
than  ever  before."* 

NO  DANGER  FEOM  THE  AEMT. 

"There  never  has  been  any  division  of  sentiment  in  the  army  itself. 
They  have  always  been  for  the  Union  unconditionally,  for  the  government 
and  the  laws  at  any  and  all  times.  And  who  are  this  army  ?  Are  they 
men  different  from  us?  Xot  at  all.  I  see  some  here  that  have  come  back 
from  the  army,  and  are  now  waiting  to  recover  their  health  to  go  back  and 
join  that  army.  Are  they  to  be  any  different  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac 
or  in  the  marshes  of  Louisiana,  or  struggling  with  the  turbid  current  of  the 
Mississippi  than  they  are  here?  Are  our  sons,  our  brothers,  to  have  differ- 
ent thoughts  and  different  feelings  from  us,  simply  because  to-day  they 
wear  blue  and  to-morrow  they  wear  black,  or  to-day  they  wear  black  and 
to-morrow  they  wear  blue  ?  Not  at  all.  They  are  from  us,  they  are  of  us, 
they  are  with  us.  The  same  love  of  liberty,  ay,  and  you  will  pardon  me 
for  saying  it,  a  little  more  love  for  the  Union,  have  caused  them  to  go  out 
than  has  actuated  those  who  have  stayed  behind.      The  same  desire    to 

*  Speech  at  Boston,  Jan.  13, 1853. 


622  AT  HOME. 

see  the  constitution  restored  has  sent  them  out  that  animates  us  ,  the  same 
love  of  good  government,  the  same  faith  in  this  great  experiment  of  free- 
dom and  free  government  that  actuates  us  actuates  them,  and  there  need  be 
no  trouble,  it  seems  to  me,  in  the  mind  of  any  man  upon  the  question  of 
what  is  the  army  to  do.  There  need  be  no  fears.  I  have  seen  men,  too. 
good,  virtuous,  candid,  upright,  patriotic  men,  who  seem  to  feel  this  great 
increase  of  the  army  to  be  somewhat  dangerous  to  our  liberties.  Is  the 
army  to  take  away  their  own  liberties  ?  is  the  army  to  destroy  their  own 
country?  is  the  army  to  do  anything  that  patriotic  men  won't  do?  Oh, 
no  ;  they  answer  with  universal  accord  upon  that  subject.  Then  where  is 
the  danger  men  see  ?  Why,  in  the  olden  time,  at  the  head  of  large  armies, 
some  ambitious  man,  some  ambitious  military  leader,  gets  the  control  of 
the  army  and  destroys  the  liberty  of  the  country ;  but  the  difficulty  is,  the 
examples  of  nations  in  the  old  world  are  by  no  means  analogies  for  this. 
No  general  of  the  old  world  ever  commanded  such  an  army ;  no  general  of 
the  old  world  ever  had  such  a  country;  no  general  of  the  old  world  ever 
had  such  a  government  to  fight  for,  to  fight  with,  to  fight  under,  or  will 
have  ever  and  for  ever ;  and  no  general  of  the  old  world,  no  general  thus 
far  on  the  face  of  the  earth  ever  was  in  a  country,  where,  by  elevating 
his  country  first,  last,  and  all  the  time,  he  might  more  surely  elevate  him- 
self. But  we  do  not  depend  upon  either  the  patriotism,  or  the  ability,  or 
the  prudence,  or  the  courage  of  any  one  man ;  we  depend  upon  the  cour- 
age, the  patriotism,  and  the  intelligence  of  this  half  million  of  men  in  the 
army  who  know  that  the  plaCe  to  regulate  government  affairs  is  in  the  bal- 
lot-box, and  who,  as  long  as  they  can  get  matters  regulated,  and  can  have 
fair  play  through  the  ballot-box,  will  go  home  and  be  much  more  ready  to 
use  the  ballot-box  than  the  cartridge-box. 

"Therefore,  I  say  to  you,  sir,  let  no  man  have  fear  on  this  subject. 
There  are  no  better  friends  of  free  institutions,  there  are  no  more  intelli- 
gent, no  truer  men  and  citizens  at  home  and  in  peace  than  in  the  army  of 
the  United  States."* 

EECONSTKTTCTION. 

"  I  am  not  for  the  Union  as  it  was.  I  have  the  honor  to  say,  as  a  democrat, 
and  an  Andrew  Jackson  democrat,  I  am  not  for  the  Union  to  be  again  as  it 
was.  Understand  me,  I  was  for  the  Union  as  it  was,  because  I  saw,  or 
thought  I  saw,  the  troubles  in  the  future  which  have  burst  upon  us ;  but 
having  undergone  those  troubles,  having  spent  all  this  blood  and  this 
treasure,  I  do  not  mean  to  go  back  again  and  be  cheek  to  jole,  as  I  was 
before  with  South  Carolina,  if  I  can  help  it.  Mark  me  now  ;  let  no  man 
misunderstand  me  ;  and  I  repeat,  lest  I  may  be  misunderstood  (for  there  are 
none  so  difficult  to  understand  as  those  that  don't  want  to) — mark   me 

*  Speech  at  Boston,  April,  1863. 


AT   HOME.  G23 

again,  1  say,  I  do  not  mean  to  give  up  a  single  inch  of  the  soil  of  South 
Carolina.  If  I  had  been  living  at  that  time,  and  had  the  position,  the  will, 
and  the  ability,  I  would  have  dealt  with  South  Carolina  as  Jackson  did,  and 
kept  her  in  the  Union  at  all  hazards ;  but  now  she  has  gone  out,  and  I  will 
take  care  that  when  she  comes  in  again  she  will  come  in  better  behaved ; 
that  she  shall  no  longer  be  the  fire-brand  of  the  Union,  ay,  that  she  shall  en- 
joy what  her  people  never  yet  enjoyed,  the  blessings  of  a  republican  form 
of  government.  And,  therefore,  in  that  view  I  am  not  for  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  Union  as  it  was.  I  have  spent  treasure  and  blood  enough  upon 
it,  in  conjunction  with  my  fellow-citizens,  to  make  it  a  little  better,  and  I 
think  we  can  have  a  better  Union.  It  was  good  enough  if  it  had  been  let 
alone.  The  old  house  was  good  enough  for  me,  but  the  South  pulled  it 
down,  and  I  propose,  when  we  build  it  up,  to  build  it  up  with  all  the 
modern  improvements.  Another  one  of  the  logical  sequences,  it  seems  to 
me,  that  follow  inexorably,  and  is  not  to  be  shunned,  from  the  proposition 
that  we  are  dealing  with  alien  enemies,  what  is  our  duty  with  regard  to  the 
confiscation  of  their  property  ?  And  that  would  seem  to  me  to  be  very 
easy  of  settlement  under  the  constitution,  and  without  any  discussion,  if 
my  first  proposition  is  right.  Hasn't  it  been  held  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world  down  to  this  day,  from  the  time  the  Israelites  took  possession  of  the 
land  of  Canaan,  which  they  got  from  alien  enemies,  hasn't  it  been  held  that 
the  whole  of  the  property  of  those  alien  enemies  belongs  to  the  conqueror, 
and  that  it  has  been  at  his  mercy  and  his  clemency  what  should  be  done 
with  it  ?  And  for  one,  I  would  take  it  and  give  to  the  loyal  man,  who  was 
loyal  from  the  heart,  at  the  South,  enough  to  make  him  as  well  as  he  was 
before,  and  I  would  take  the  balance  of  it  and  distribute  it  among  the  vol- 
unteer soldiers  who  have  gone  forth  in  the  service  of  their  country;  and  so 
far  as  I  know  them,  if  we  should  settle  South  Carolina  with  them,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years  I  should  be  quite  willing  to  receive  her  back  into  the 
Union."* 

ABMING   THE  KEGEOES. 

"If  these  men  are  alien  enemies,  is  there  any  objection  that  you  know  of, 
and  if  so  state  it,  to  our  arming  one  portion  of  that  foreign  country  against  the 
other,  while  they  are  fighting  us  ?  Suppose  we  were  at  war  with  England, 
who  here  would  get  up  in  New  York  and  say  we  must  not  arm  the  Irish, 
lest  they  should  hurt  some  Englishman?  Well,  at  one  time,  not  very  far 
gone,  all  those  Englishmen  were  our  grandfathers'  brothers.  Either  they 
or  we  erred ;  but  we  are  now  separate  nations,  arising  out  of  the  contest. 
So  again  I  say,  if  you  will  look  carefully  you  will  see  that  there  can  be  no 
objection  for  another  reason.  There  is  no  law,  either  of  war  or  of  inter- 
national law,  or  law  of  governmental  action  that  I  know  of,  which  prevents 

*  Speech  at  New  York,  April  2,  1868. 


624  AT   HOME. 

a  country  arming  any  portion  of  its  citizens  or  its  subjects  for  the  defense 
of  that  portion,  or  of  any  other,  and  they  become  (if  they  do  not  take  part 
with  those  rebels)  simply  our  citizens,  residing  upon  our  territory,  which  at 
the  present  hour  is  usurped  by  our  enemies.  At  this  moment,  and  in  the 
waning  hour,  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss,  more  than  to  hint  at  these  various 
subjects.  But  there  is  one  question  that  I  have  been  so  often  asked,  that  I 
want  to  make  an  answer  to,  once  for  all,  and  when  I  have  answered  it  to 
everybody,  nobody  will  ask  me  again,  and  that  is  this  (and  most  frequently 
am  I  asked  that  question  by  my  old  democratic  friends)  :  'Why,  General 
Butler,  what  is  your  experience  ?  Will  the  negroes  tight  V  To  that  I  have 
to  answer,  that  upon  that  subject  I  have  no  personal  experience.  I  left  the 
Department  of  the  Gulf  before  they  were  fairly  brought  into  action ;  but 
they  did  fight  under  Jackson  at  Chalmette.  More  than  that,  I  will  bring  in 
some  other  man  to  answer  that  question.  Let  Napoleon  III.  answer  it, 
who  has  hired  them  to  do  what  the  veterans  of  the  Crimea  can  not  do — to 
whip  the  Mexicans.  I  will  answer  it  in  another  form.  Let  the  veterans 
of  Napoleon  the  First,  under  his  brother-in-law,  Le  Clerc,  who  were  whipped 
out  of  St.  Domingo  by  them,  tell  whether  they  will  fight  or  not.  I  will  ask 
you  to  remember  it  in  another  form  still.  What  has  been  the  demoral- 
izing effect  upon  them  as  a  race  by  their  contact  with  the  white  man,  I 
know  not ;  but  I  can  not  forget  that  they  and  their  fathers  would  not  hav» 
been  slaves  except  they  were  captives  of  war  in  their  own  countries,  in  hand 
to  hand  fights  among  the  several  chiefs,  and  were  sold  into  slavery  because 
they  were  captives  in  war.  They  would  fight  at  some  time,  and  if  you 
want  to  know  any  more  about  it,  I  can  only  advise  you  to  try  them.'1* 

THE    QUESTION  BEFORE   US. 

"  No  Union  man  wants  to  abrogate  the  old  constitution.  It  is  good 
enough.  The  only  question  is,  how  can  we  take  back  an  absconding  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  under  the  old  articles  of  agreement."  f 

It  has  been  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter  that,  at  the  time  of 
the  seizure  of  Mason  and  Slidell,  General  Butler  was  of  opinion 
that  they  ought  not  to  be  given  up.  It  is  proper  to  record  here,  that 
his  more  mature  opinion,  as  expressed  in  his  speech  of  April  2d, 
1863,  is  that  "  we  acted  wisely  at  that  time  in  not  getting  into 
serious  trouble  with  England."  At  the  same  time,  he  avowed  the 
conviction  that  the  United  States  ought  not  to  continue  to  hold 
friendly  relations  with  a  power  in  practical  alliance  with  the  rebel 

*  Speech  at  New  York,  April  2,  1S63. 
t  Speech  at  Harrisburgh,  September  ,1S63. 


SUMMARY.  025 

government.     He  advised   a  declaration   of  non-intercourse   with 
England. 

"  England  told  us  what  to  do  when  we  took  Mason  and  Slidell, 
and  she  thought  there  was  a  likelihood  to  be  a  war.  She 
stopped  exportation  of  those  articles  which  she  thought  we 
wanted,  and  which  she  had  allowed  to  be  exported  before.  Let 
us  do  the  same  thing.  Let  us  proclaim  non-interconrse,  so  that 
no  ounce  of  food  from  the  United  States  shall  ever  by  any  accident 
get  into  an  Englishman's  mouth  until  this  rebellion  ceases.  I  say 
again,  let  us  proclaim  non-intercourse,  so  that  no  ounce  of  food  shall 
by  any  accident  get  into  an  Englishman's  mouth  until  these  piracies 
are  stopped.  That  we  have  a  right  to  do ;  and  when  we  ever  do 
do  it,  my  word  for  it,  they  will  find  out  where  these  vessels  are 
going  to,  and  they  will  write  to  the  Emperor  of  China." 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

SUMMARY. 


The  speciality  of  General  Butler  is  this :  He  is  a  great  achiever. 
He  is  the  victorious  kind  of  man.  He  is  that  combination  of  qual- 
ities and  powers  which  is  most  potent  in  bringing  things  to  pass. 
Upon  reviewing  his  life,  we  find  that  he  has  been  signally  successful 
in  the  undertakings  which  have  seriously  tasked  his  powers. 

A  good  example  of  his  ready  adaptation  of  means  to  ends,  has 
just  been  related  to  me  by  one  of  his  legal  friends.  A  wealthy 
corporation  in  New  England  refused  to  pay  for  a  bridge,  on  the 
ground  that  the  contractor  had  been  a  few  days  behind  the  stipu- 
lated time  in  completing  it.  General  Butler  was  retained  on  behalf 
of  the  contractor.  Aware  that  he  really  had  no  case,  though  the 
delay  in  finishing  the  bridge  was  abundantly  excusable,  he  brought 
the  cause  to  the  bar  of  public  opinion.  In  other  words,  he  told 
the  story  to  every  man  and  group  of  men  whom  chance  threw  in 
his  way.  He  caused  endless  paragraphs  upon  the  subject  to  be  in- 
serted in  the  newspapers.  The  bridge  was  justly  commended  as  a 
most  admirable  piece  of  work,  and  remarks  were  appended  upon 


626  SUMMARY. 

the  soullessness  of  a  corporation,  which  could  avail  itself  of  the 
letter  of  a  contract  to  deprive  a  fellow-citizen  of  the  reward  of  his 
labors.  In  a  word,  he  enlisted  the  feelings  and  the  judgment  of 
the  whole  community  on  the  side  of  the  contractor,  and  thus 
shamed  the  corporation  into  a  compromise.  You  may  call  this,  if 
you  please,  an  illegitimate  mode  of  proceeding  for  a  learned  advo- 
cate. It  remains  true,  nevertheless,  that  the  plan  adopted  answered 
the  end  proposed,  and  that  the  end  proposed  was  justice. 

It  may  be  profitable  to  inquire  what  is  the  secret  of  General 
Butler's  success. 

Brains.  That  is  a  great  part  of  the  secret.  This  man  has  under- 
stood the  matter.  He  has  been  able  to  grasp  the  situation  at  all 
times,  and  to  know  what  the  situation  required  at  all  times.  From 
the  hour  when  he  shook  hands  with  Jefferson  Davis,  in  December, 
1860,  to  the  present  moment,  he  has  never  been  groping  in  the 
dark,  or  feeling  his  way  to  a  policy.  And  his  opinion,  generally 
scouted  at  the  moment,  has  always  been  justified  by  the  progress 
of  events.  He  was  right  in  getting  Massachusetts  ready  to  march. 
He  took  the  right  road  to  Washington.  He  was  right  in  regard- 
ing Fortress  Monroe  as  the  base  against  Richmond.  The  flash  of 
inspiration  which  pronounced  the  negroes  contraband  of  war,  was 
right.  Each  step  in  the  progress  of  his  mind  upon  the  negro  ques- 
tion was  right  at  the  time  and  in  the  circumstances.  That  single 
suggestion  of  a  board  to  decide  upon  the  fitness  of  officers,  was 
worth  all  he  has  received  from  the  government.  His  order,  mak- 
ing officers  pay  for  the  pillage  committed  by  their  men,  was  another 
masterly  stroke.  Better  still,  perhaps,  it  would  be  to  make  the 
whole  regiment  responsible — privates  as  well  as  officers.  At  New 
Orleans,  he  was  magnificently  right,  both  in  theory  and  in  practice. 
Every  day  brought  forth  some  new  proof  of  the  fertility  of  his 
mind — of  his  genius  for  governing.  That  policy  of  isolating,  crip- 
pling, and  destroying  the  malignants,  and  of  raising  in  the  scale  of 
being  the  laboring  multitude,  white,  black,  or  yellow,  is  the  only 
policy  which  can  ever  make  the  country  a  nation,  homogeneous, 
united,  powerful  and  free.  No  man  has,  no  man  can,  point  out  an- 
other path  to  permanent  reconstruction.  To  dethrone  the  false  king, 
Minority,  and  to  crown  in  his  stead  the  true  king,  Majority — that 
was  the  scheme  attempted  in  Louisiana.  But  one  thing  is  wanting 
to  its  complete  success — the  total  abolition  of  slavery,  which  con- 


SUMMARY.  02\ 

stitutes  the  power  of  the  ruling  faction,  and  keeps  in  heathenisl 
bondage  every  poor  man  in  the  South,  whatever  his  color. 

General  Butler,  on  the  other  hand,  is  no  dreamer  or  theorizer. 
Dreamers  and  theorizers  are  good  and  helpful ;  but  he  is  not  one 
of  them.  His  forte  is  to  devise  expedients  to  meet  a  new  state  of 
things,  or  to  effect  a  special  purpose.  He  is  singularly  happy  in 
framing  a  measure,  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  which  precisely 
answers  the  end  proposed,  and  works  good  in  many  directions  not 
specially  contemplated.  His  plan  for  feeding  the  poor  of  New 
Orleans,  for  example,  besides  effecting  the  main  purpose  of  saving 
thousands  from  starvation,  brought  home  to  the  authors  of  their 
ruin  a  part  of  the  ill-consequences  of  their  conduct,  and  chimed 
in  with  his  general  policy  of  suppressing  one  class  and  raising 
another. 

Brains  are  the  great  secret.  He  is  endowed  with  a  large, 
healthy,  active,  instructed,  experienced  brain — Heaven's  best  gift, 
and  the  medium  through  which  all  other  good  gifts  are  given. 

Courage,  will,  firmness,  nerve — call  it  what  you  will — General 
Butler  has  it.  He  has  not  been  called  to  face  the  leaden  rain  and 
iron  hail  of  battle ;  but  he  has  exhibited  on  every  occasion  the 
courage  w^hich  the  occasion  required.  He  has  shown  a  singular 
insensibility  to  the  phantoms  which  play  so  important  a  part  in 
war.  He  has  shown  the  courage  to  go  forward  and  meet  the 
imaginary  danger,  as  well  as  the  real.  He  has  the  courage  of 
opinion — so  rare  in  a  republic  where  public  men  all  want  the  favor 
of  the  many.  He  dares  accept  the  remote  consequences  of  a 
policy.  He  dares  to  take  the  responsibility.  He  dares  to  incur 
obloquy.  He  dares  to  tell  the  truth,  and  all  the  truth.  I  venture  to 
declare,  that  in  the  many  thousand  pages  of  his  writings  as  an 
officer  of  the  government,  there  is  not  one  intentional  misstatement 
or  unfair  suppression.  Falsehood  is  the  natural  resort  of  timidity. 
A  brave  man  does  not  lie,  and  need  not. 

Honesty.  With  opportunities  of  irregular  gain,  such  as  no  other 
man  has  had  since  the  days  of  Warren  Hastings,  his  hands  are 
spotless.  He  could  have  made  a  safe  half  million  by  a  wink ;  and, 
if  he  had  done  so,  he  would  have  come  home  with  a  peculiar  and 
marked  reputation  for  integrity ;  because  then  he  would  have  had 
an  interest  to  create  such  a  reputation,  and  could  not  have  in- 
dulged the  noble  carelessness  with  regard  to  his  good  name  which 
27 


628  SUMMARY. 

is  the  privilege  of  a  man  strong  in  conscious  rectitude.  The  fact 
that  so  able  a  man  is  accused  of  corruption,  is  itself  a  kind  of  proof 
of  his  honesty. 

Humor.  The  happy  word  is  part  of  the  art  of  governing.  There 
is  apt  to  be  a  fund  of  humor  in  good  victorious  men,  which  enables 
them  to  get  the  laugh  of  mankind  on  their  side.  Would  Lord  Palm- 
erston  ever  have  been  premier  of  England  without  his  jokes,  or  Mr. 
Lincoln  president  of  the  United  States  unless  he  had  first  overspread 
acres  of  prairie  mass-meetings  with  a  grin  ?  The  point,  humor  and 
vivacity  of  General  Butler's  utterances  have  been  an  element  of  his 
success  in  the  service  of  his  country. 

Faith.  "  After  our  return  to  the  North,"  says  one  of  the  gener- 
al's staif,  "  an  ex-mayor  of  Chicago  was  introduced  to  the  general  at 
the  St.  Nicholas  Hotel  in  New  York.  It  was  just  at  a  time  when 
our  cause  looked  very  gloomy.  The  mayor  was  evidently  much 
depressed  by  the  indications  of  national  misfortune,  and  in  a  tone 
of  great  despondency  asked  the  general — 

** '  Do  you  believe  we  shall  ever  get  through  this  war  successfully  ?' 

"  ■  Yes,  sir,'  the  general  answered,  very  decidedly. 

"  ■  Well,  but  how  ?'  asked  the  mayor. 

"  '  God  knows,  I  don't ;  but  I  know  He  does,  so  I  am  satisfied,' 
the  general  replied.*  I  have  often  heard  him  reply  thus  to  anxious 
questioners. 

"  '  We  ought  to  march  through,'  he  once  said  ;  '  but  we  shan't ; 
I'm  afraid  we  shall  only  tumble  through.  No  matter ;  we  shall 
get  through  somehow.'  " 

Humanity.  The  papers  relating  to  our  general's  military  career 
teem  with  evidence  that  he  is  a  kind,  considerate  man.  He  gov- 
erned his  soldiers  strictly,  but  always  so  as  to  promote  their  best 
interests.  He  was  lenient  and  forgiving  toward  offenses  of  inad- 
vertence, or  such  as  betrayed  only  a  weakness  or  infirmity  of 
nature.  He  was  generous  to  the  poor.  He  was  solicitous  to  be- 
stow honor  where  it  was  due.  He  was  ingenious  in  devising  ways 
of  procuring  promotion  to  deserving  officers.  He  sympathized 
with  the  anxiety  of  parents  for  their  sons  in  the  army,  and  assuaged 
many  a  bleeding  heart  by  the  kind  thoughtfulness  with  which  ill 
news  was  broken  to  them.    * 

Courtesy.     The  etiquette  of  his  position  was  most  punctiliously 

*  AHnvUc  Monthly,  July,  1863. 


SUMMARY.  629 

observed ;  not  more  so  toward  admirals  and  general  officers  than 
boy  lieutenants  and  private  soldiers.  To  the  enemies  of  his  country- 
he  could  be  a  roaring  lion  or  a  growling  bear.  The  men  of  his 
command  and  the  loyal  citizens  of  his  department  enjoyed  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  their  general  was  a  gentleman.  No 
littleness  toward  other  commanders ;  only  gratitude  and  admiration 
for  the  Farraguts,  the  Grants,  the  Rosecranses,  the  Meades,  and  all 
the  other  heroes  of  the  war.  Consideration,  too,  for  the  many  able 
and  well-intentioned  men  who  have  been  less  successful. 

Patriotism.  No  man  should  be  praised  for  loving  his  country, 
any  more  than  for  loving  his  mother.  If  the  country  is  lost,  we 
are  all  lost.  If  the  country  is  disgraced,  we  all  hang  our  heads  in 
shame.  To  love  one's  country  is  a  part  of  our  natural  and  proper 
self-love.  But  if  there  is  one  man  who  has  gone  along  more  en- 
tirely than  he  with  his  country  in  this  great  struggle  to  preserve 
its  life ;  if  there  is  one  man  who  has  taken  the  great  cause  more 
deeply  to  heart,  or  striven  with  a  purer  aim  to  do  his  part  in  the 
mighty  and  holy  work,  he  must,  indeed,  be  the  very  model  of  a 
pure  and  burning  patriot.  Let  none  of  us,  however,  claim  for  him- 
self or  for  another  any  pre-eminence  in  patriotism.  In  this  alone 
we  are  all  agreed,  that  if  it  takes  as  long  to  restore  the  country  as 
it  took  the  Spaniards  to  expel  the  Moors  from  Spain  (800  years), 
the  work  is  to  be  done.  If  the  treasury  is  bankrupt,  no  matter,  it 
is  to  be  done.  If  we  have  to  make  twenty  truces,  still  it  is  to  be 
done.  If  we  pause,  it  will  be  only  to  renew  the  strife  as  soon  as 
we  have  taken  breath. 

Brains  without  courage  may  be  a  delusion  and  a  snare.  To 
have  courage  without  brains  is  to  be  a  human  bull-dog.  Brains 
and  valor  without  experience  in  human  affairs,  without  knowledge 
of  the  world  and  mankind,  will  often  lead  a  man  far  astray. 
Brains,  valor  and  experience  united,  still  require  the  honest  heart, 
the  lofty  aim.  And  even  all  these  are  ineffective  in  times  like  these, 
unless  there  is  also  an  enormous  capacity  for  labor.  But  when  a 
man  presents  himself  to  view  who  possesses  a  fertile  genius,  cour- 
age, knowledge,  experience,  patriotism  and  honesty,  with  a  sound- 
ness of  bodily  constitution  that  gives  him  the  complete  use  of  all  his 
powers,  a  country  must  be  rich  indeed  in  able  men,  if  it  can  afford, 
at  a  time  of  public  danger,  to  dispense  with  his  services. 


APPENDIX. 


GENEKAL  M.  JEFF.  THOMPSON". 

The  following  correspondence  has  recently  passed  between  General  But- 
ler and  General  Jeff.  Thompson  of  the  Confederate  army,  now  a  prisoner 
of  war.  General  Thompson  was  long  General  Butler's  principal  adversary 
in  Louisiana,  as  he  was  in  command  of  the  largest  Confederate  force  in  the 
vicinity  of  New  Orleans.  General  Butler  having  been  kind  enough  to  send 
me  the  letters,  as  a  matter  of  curiosity,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  consider 
them  part  of  the  documents  relating  to  the  Department  of  the  Gulf.  The 
correspondence  tends  to  show  that,  when  the  war  is  over,  the  people  of  the 
North  and  the  people  of  the  South  will  be  astonished  to  find  what  excel- 
lent and  cordial  friends  they  are,  after  thirty  years  of  alienation. 

general  thompson  to  general  butler. 

"Depot  of  Prisoners, 
"Johnson's  Island,  near  Sandusky,  Ohio, 
"  September  28,  1863. 
"  Major-General  B.  F.  Butler,  TJ.  S.  A.,  Washington,  D.  0. : 

"  General  : — About  this  time  last  year,  the  fortunes  of  war  placed  in  my 
hands  a  Captain  Thornton  of  your  command,  wounded  and  a  prisoner  of 
war.  You  will  remember  that  I  sent  Captain  Thornton  on  parole  back  to 
New  Orleans,  in  your  yacht.  I  promised  Captain  Thornton  that,  if  I  was 
ever  captured,  I  would  notify  him  of  my  whereabouts,  that  he  might  return 
the  favors  which  he  thought  I  extended  to  him. 

"  I  do  not  think  that  Captain  Thornton  is  under  any  obligations  to  me,  as 
I  simply  acted  toward  him  as  I  have  to  all  gentlemen  who  have  been  so 
unfortunate  as  to  be  captured  by  me ;  but,  in  conformity  with  my  promise, 
I  would  like  to  let  him  know  that  I  am  here ;  and  as  I  do  not  know  his 
address,  and  understanding  at  the  time  that  he  was  a  personal  friend  of 
yours,  I  hope  it  will  not  be  presuming  to  request  you  to  forward  him  this 
letter,  let  me  know  his  address,  or  otherwise  let  him  know  that  I  am  at 
this  prison,  as  may  be  most  convenient  or  agreeable  to  yourself. 
"  Yours  most  respectfully, 
"M.  Jeff.  Thompson,  Brigadier- General,  M.  S.  #." 


632  APPENDIX. 

GENERAL  BUTLER   TO    GENERAL   THOMPSON. 

"  Lowell,  Mass.,  October  6,  1863. 
u  Brigadier-General  M.  Jeff.  Thompson  : 

''General: — Your  note  addressed  to  me  was  received  to-day.  I  will 
forward  it  to  Captain  Thornton,  now  on  Brigadier-General  Shepley's  staff 
at  New  Orleans,  as  you  request. 

"  I  retain  a  lively  sense  of  the  courtesy  and  urbanity  with  which  you 
conducted  operations,  when  in  command,  opposed  to  me  in  Louisiana,  and 
desire  again,  as  before,  to  thank  you  for  your  kindness  to  Captain  Thornton 
in  sending  him  home  wounded,  by  which  kindness  I  have  no  doubt  his 
life  was  saved. 

"  Although  an  outlaw,  by  the  proclamation  of  those  whom  you  serve,  for 
acts  which  no  one  knows  more  surely  than  yourself  were  untruly  reported 
and  unjustly  construed,  I  will  endeavor  to  have  your  imprisonment  light- 
ened, or  commuted,  if  possible. 

"  I  have,  therefore,  taken  the  liberty  to  forward  a  copy  of  your  communi- 
cation to  the  war  department,  with  a  note,  of  which  the  inclosed  shows  the 
contents. 

"  Sympathizing  with  you  that  the  fortune  of  war  has  made  you  a  pris- 
oner, yet  you  will  pardon  me  when  I  add,  that  I  am  glad  the  enemies  of  my 
country  are  deprived  of  the  services  of  so  effective  an  officer. 

"  Eespectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Benj.  F.  Butlee." 


GENERAL  BTTTLER   TO   THE    OFFICER   COMMANDING   AT   JOHNSON'S   ISLAND. 

"Lowell,  Mass.,  October  6,  1863. 
"  To  the  Officer  Commanding  Depot  of  Prisoners,  at  Johnson's  Island,  near 
Sandusky,  Ohio: 
"Sir: — Inclosed  please  find  an  unsealed  note,  to  General  M.  Jeff. 
Thompson,  now,  as  I  am  informed,  a  prisoner  under  your  charge.  If  not 
inconsistent  with  the  regulations  of  your  depot,  please  deliver  it.  You  will 
read  it,  if  agreeable  to  you,  and  will  learn  therefrom,  that  General  Thomp- 
son showed  great  kindness  to  wounded  officers  and  soldiers  that  fell  into  his 
hands ;  and  I  beg  leave  to  bespeak  for  him  all  the  indulgence  and  liberty 
which  can  be  shown  him  consistently  with  your  discipline. 

"Please  inform  me  if  General  Thompson  is  destitute,  so  that  he  can  not 
supply  himself  with  any  little  comforts  that  would  alleviate  and  accord  with. 
his  situation. 

"  Most  truly  yours, 

"Benj.  F.  Butler." 


APPENDIX.  633 

GENERAL   BUTLER   TO   THE   SECRETARY   OF   WAR. 

"  Lowell,  Mass.,  October  6,  1863. 
"  Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War : 

"  Sir: — I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  a  note,  received  from  Brigadier-Gene- 
ral M.  Jeff.  Thompson,  whom  I  knew  in  command  of  the  forces  imme- 
diately opposed  to  me  at  Pontchatoula,  on  the  northern  side  of  Lake  Pont- 
chartrain,  when  I  was  in  command  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf.  The 
original  I  have  sent,  as  requested,  to  Captain  Thornton,  on  Brigadier- 
General  Geo.  F.  Shepley's  staff. 

"  Captain  Thornton,  a  most  valuable,  brave,  and  efficient  officer,  was  griev- 
ously wounded,  with  at  least  seven  bullet  holes  through  his  clothes  and 
various  parts  of  his  body,  in  the  attack  on  Pontchatoula  in  September  of 
last  year,  under  the  command  of  the  late  lamented  Major-General  Strong, 
then  my  chief  of  staff.  Captain  Thornton  was  left  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  and  received  of  General  Thompson  every  care  and  kindness,  and,  at 
my  request,  was  sent  to  New  Orleans  upon  his  parole.  This  courteous 
consideration  on  the  part  of  General  Thompson,  I  have  no  doubt,  enabled 
us,  with  the  blessing  of  heaven,  to  save  Captain  Thornton's  valuable  life. 
General  Thompson  is  now  a  prisoner  at  Johnson's  Island,  near  Sandusky, 
Ohio.  If  not  inconsistent  with  public  service,  I  most  earnestly  ask  that 
General  Thompson  may  be  released  upon  his  parole. 

u  "While  I  can  testify  to  the  uniform  urbanity  and  courtesy  with  which 
all  the  operations  of  General  Thompson  were  conducted,  I  am  most  de- 
cidedly of  opinion  that  the  kindness  which  he  showed  to  Captain  Thorn- 
ton alone  should  entitle  him  to  every  possible  consideration.  That  kindness 
was  not  alone  given  to  the  officers,  but  the  wounded  men  spoke  of  his 
treatment  with  the  utmost  gratitude. 

"  I  found  him  a  troublesome  enemy  enough,  but  his  humanity,  which 
was  in  contrast  with  the  conduct  of  General  Taylor,  leads  me  to  ask  this 
favor  for  him  at  the  hands  of  the  government. 

"  As  I  am  not  much  in  the  habit  of  asking  leniency  for  rebels,  I  trust  the 
war  department  will  take  it  as  a  guaranty  that  this  is  a  proper  case  for  the 
extension  of  every  indulgence. 

u  I  am,  most  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Benj.  F.  Butler,  Major- General  U.  8.  Vols." 

general  thompson  to  general  butler. 

"Depot  of  Prisoners  of  "War, 
"  Johnson's  Island,  near  Sandusky,  Ohio, 
«  October  12,  1863. 
"Major-General  B.  F.  Butler,  U.  S.  Vols.,  Lowell,  Mass. : 

"  General  :— Your  kind  letter  of  the  6th  inst.  was  received  on  the  10th, 
but  a  violent  headache  has  prevented  me  from  answering  it  until  now. 


634  APPENDIX. 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  interest  you  take  in  my  welfare, 
and  thank  you  for  your  unsolicited  and  nattering  application  to  the  United 
States  war  department  in  my  behalf,  and  I  am  also  grateful  for  the  compli- 
mentary manner  in  which  you  speak  of  my  conduct  as  an  officer. 

"  Should  the  United  States  war  department  prefer  to  '  parole'  me,  I  will 
cheerfully  accept  it,  not  so  much  for  the  restricted  liberty  that  it  will  give, 
as  for  the  purpose  of  showing  to  the  people  of  both  governments  that  the 
stories  that  have  been  told  about  my  being  a  guerilla,  etc.,  are  false  ; 
and  that,  with  all  the  eccentricities  and  peculiarities  that  have  been  im- 
puted to  me,  I  have  not  forgotten  to  be  a  gentleman ;  and  also  that 
Captain  Thornton  and  various  other  officers,  who  are  under  the  impression 
that  they  are  under  obligations  to  me  for  similar  favors,  may  feel  that  their 
government  has  shown  a  disposition  to  reciprocate  for  them. 

u  You  say  that  no  one  more  surely  than  myself  knows  that  the  acts  for 
which  my  government  blames  you  were  untruly  reported  and  unjustly 
construed.  What  your  intentions  were  when  you  issued  the  '  order'  which 
brought  so  much  censure  upon  yourself,  I,  of  course,  can  not  tell,  but  I  can 
testify,  and  do  with  pleasure,  that  nearly  all  of  the  many  persons  who 
passed  through  my  lines,  to  and  from  New  Orleans,  during  the  months  of 
August  and  September,  1862,  spoke  favorably  of  the  treatment  they  had 
received  from  you,  and  with  all  my  inquiries,  which  were  constant,  I  did 
not  hear  of  one  single  instance  of  a  lady  being  insulted  by  your  command. 

"  Thanking  you  again  for  your  kindness  and  compliments,  and  hoping 
that  your  government  will  soon  conclude  to  '  let  us  alone,' 
"  I  am,  most  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"M.  Jeff.  Thompson,  Brigadier- General,  M.  S.  G." 

The  following  letter  from  General  Thompson  to  his  sister,  recently  pub- 
lished in  the  newspapers,  shows  that  General  Butler's  efforts  in  his  behalf 
have  not  been  fruitless. 

interesting  from  jeff.  to    his   sister — what   he   says  about   things 

generally.     % 
"Johnson's  Island,  near  Sandusky,  Ohio, 
'•Sunday,  Oct.  11,  1863. 
"  Dear  Sister  : — I  know  you  will  be  astonished  at  an  article  which  ap- 
peared in  the  St.  Louis  Republican  of  the  7th  inst.  about  me,  and  in  which 
the  writer  speaks  of  letters  written  by  me  to  General  Grant  about  Emma. 
Of  course,  everybody  in  St.  Joseph  will  know  how  false  this  report  is ;  but 
still  I  feel  grieved  that  any  man  should  exist  who  is  mean  enough  to  write 
such  an  article.     All  know  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  Emma  was  at 
the  asylum,  and  that,  as  soon  as  I  heard  that  she  was  well,  I  sent  Colonel 
Chappell  to  Cairo,  to  endeavor  to  get  her  sent  down  to  me,  and  that,  as  soon 
as  permits  were  granted  to  any  one,  she  came  down  to  me.     I  simply  re- 


APPENDIX.  635 

mind  you  of  these  facts  for  fear  some  person  who  is  not  acquainted  with  me 
may  believe  the  slander,  and  that  you  can  show  them  the  falsity. 

"  I  am  to  be  offered  my  parole,  in  consideration  of  the  courtesy  and  kind- 
ness which  I  have  universally  shown  to  all  my  enemies,  and  I  may  accept 
it,  not  that  I  care  about  the  '  restricted  liberty'  that  it  will  give,  but  it  will 
show  to  my  friends  and  enemies  (I  mean  personal)  that  the  stories  that 
have  been  told  about  me  are  false,  and  that  I  have  always  conducted  my- 
self, especially  to  those  who  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  taken  prisoners 
(and  more  especially  so  when  wounded),  as  a  soldier  and  a  gentleman.  I 
can  assure  you,  dear  sister,  that,  when  the  truth  shall  be  told,  you  will  never 
hear  anything  of  me  of  which  you  need  be  ashamed,  although  you  will 
probably  be  often  mortified  by  reports,  anecdotes,  and  stories  that  may  be 
told  upon  me.  I  have  hung  and  shot  my  own  men  for  disobeying  me,  and 
I  will  do  it  again ;  but  the  citizens  where  I  have  commanded  have  never 
been  troubled  by  my  troops  or  by  my  orders,  and  many  Union  men  were 
and  are  in  my  district  who  can  testify  to  this  fact.  You  would  be  very 
proud  to  see  some  letters  that  I  have  received  from  prominent  Union  men 
and  federal  generals  since  I  have  been  a  prisoner.  I  am  writing  thus  for 
fear  I  may  not  have  time  to  write  again  before  I  leave,  as,  should  the  parole 

arrive  and  I  accept  it,  I  will  immediately  start  to  Kichmond  or  to  Canada. 
******* 

"I  have  authority  to  draw  on  George  D.  Prentice,  of  Louisville,  or 
Major-General  Benj.  F.  Butler,  for  what  money  I  want ;  but  should  I  not 
accept  the  parole,  I  will  prefer  to  trust  to  my  old  personal  friendship  for 
little  dribs  until  I  am  exchanged. 

"  You  will  hear  through  the  newspapers  whether  I  go  to  Canada  or  the 
Confederacy ;  for  I  would  be  fearful  to  accept  the  parole  for  the  United 
States,  as  I  would  quarrel  with  half  the  men  I  met. 

"  Farewell,  dear  sister ;  I  may  not  have  time  to  write  again  before  I  may 
again  be  on  the  war  path,  and  then  my  life  is  always  in  danger.      *     *    * 

"  Your  affectionate  brother, 

"M.  Jeff.  Thompson." 

97* 


INDEX 


Adams,  General,  allusion  to,  69. 

Adams,  John,  quoted  upon  religious  contro- 
versy, 23. 

Algiers.  La.,  McClelian  upon,  193 ;  troops  posted 
at.  283. 

Allvn,  Lieutenant  W.  B.,  distinguished  at  Ba- 
ton Eouge,  571,  573. 

Alston,  Colonel  Augustus,  his  duel  with  Reed, 
260. 

Alston,  Mrs.  A.,  attending  her  husband  at  duel, 
2(50. 

Alston,  Willis,  kills  Eeed,  261 ;  his  trial.  261 ; 
death,  262. 

Ames,  Major,  bears  dispatches  for  Governor 
Andrew,  94. 

Anderson,  General  Robert,  at  Sumter,  64 ;  allu- 
sion to,  232;  redressed  by  Butler,  431 ;  Cocks 
to,  542. 

Andrew,  Governor,  advised  to  prepare  for  war, 
65;  adopts  Butlers  suggestions,  66;  appoints 
Butler  brigadier,  69 ;  addresses  Sixth  Regi- 
ment, 69 ;  Butler  to,  from  Philadelphia,  71 : 
his  letter  to  Butler,  on  the  insurrection  ques- 
tion, 94;  recruiting  controversy  with  Butler; 
179-1S4, 186. 

Andrew,  John,  story  of,  538. 

Andrews,  John  W.,  committed  to  Ship  Island, 
442. 

Andrews,  private  George,  distinguished  at  Ba- 
ton Kouge,  573. 

Annapolis," General  Butler  to  and  at,  75. 

Appleton,  Captain  John  F.,  commended,  585; 
to  Butler,  601. 

Appleton,  Nathan,  surveys  the  site  of  Lowell,  16. 

Arkansas,  ram,  threatens  New  Orleans  and  Ba- 
ton Rouge,  565 ;  blown  up,  565. 

Arnold.  Rev.  Thomas,  allusion  to,  18. 

Astor  Place  riot,  effects  of,  257. 

Atlantic  Monthly,  quoted  upon  Pass  Office  at 
New  Orleans,  487 ;  anecdote  from,  628. 

Autographs,  Butler  gives,  590. 

Avendano  Brothers,  case  of,  3S9. 

Avery,  Mr.,  in  Charleston  Convention,  49. 


Bache,  Dr.  Thomas  H.,  on  staff  of  Butler,  212. 

Bachc,  Professor,  details  Gerdes  to  survey  Mis- 
sissippi, 266. 

Bacon,  Captain  D.,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  573. 

Bailey,  Captain  Theodoras,  at  conference  on 
Ship  Island.  210  ;  runs  by  the  forts,  238,  241 ; 
lands  in  New  Orleans,  269;  interview  with 
Mayor  and  Lovell,  270  to  272. 

Baker,  Colonel,  saves  Butler  in  the  senate,  153; 
recalled  from  Fortress  Monroe,  167, 16S;  But- 
ler to,  175. 


Bailer,  Sergeant,  distinguished  at  Baton  Eouge, 
573. 

Baltimore,  chapter  on,  100;  condition  in  April, 
1861,102;  women  insult  Union  soldiers  324. 

Banks,  General  N.  P.,  his  rank,  120;  succeeds 
Butler  at  New  Orleans.  597,  599;  his  policy, 
612. 

Bank  of  Kentucky,  affair  of,  428,  430. 

Banks  of  New  Orleans,  dealings  of  Butler  with, 
414-431. 

Barker,  Jacob,  allusion  to,  174 ;  lends  money  to 
Bntler,  409. 

Bartlett,  Captain  A.  W.,  with  Eighth  Regiment, 
74. 

Batchelor.  private  H.  T.,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge.  572. 

Beauregard,  General  P.  G.  T.,  number  of  his 
troops  at  Bull  Run,  190;  builds  forts  below- 
New  Orleans,  221 :  troops  from  New  Orleans 
join,  264;  cheered  at  New  Orleans,  281,  343; 
engineer  of  Custom  House,  2S1;  hisbells,  233. 

Bates,  Moses,  Butler  to,  on  convicts'  children, 
534. 

Baton  Rouge,  McClelian  upon,  194 ;  visited  bv 
Butler,  43S,  440:  battle  of,  403;  taken.  651; 
battle  of,  565. 

Beauregard,  Mrs.,  Butler's  courtesy  to.  345. 

Beck,  Quarter-master  James,  his  fortitude.  242. 

Bee,  New  Orleans,  The,  comments  upon  But- 
ler's first  measures,  300 ;  allusion  to,  829. 

Bell,  Captain  John,  reconnoiters  forts.  227; 
runs  by  the  forts,  289,  241;  hoists  United 
States  flag  on  Custom-House  and  Mint  of  New 
Orleans,  277,  278,  281. 

Bell,  John,  New  Orleans  votes  for,  in  1S00,  253. 

Bell,  Major  Joseph  M.,  anecdote  of,  41 ;  joins 
staff  of  Butler,  1S9 ;  on  the  voyage  to  Ship  Is- 
land, 204,  206,  207 ;  announced,  212 ;  views 
the  running  by  the  forts,  246;  demands  St. 
Charles's  Hotel,  284;  avoided  by  his  old 
friends  at  New  Orleans,  2S4;  appointed  pro- 
vost-judge of  New  Orleans,  297;  purity  of 
his  character,  412 ;  decides  for  Durand.  428  ; 
his  valuable  services  in  provost  court,  432, 
532;  on  Lafourche  commission,  582;  compli- 
mented on  his  retirement  f .  om  provost  court, 
585,  602. 

Bellows,  Dr.  Henry  "W.,  his  opinion  of  Yan- 
kees, 15. 

Belly,  Mr.,  his  testimony  on  Confederate  loan, 
380. 

Benachi,  M.  W.,  Butler  to,  on  the  sugar,  3S5; 
to  Butler,  on  the  oath,  456. 

Bendix,  Colonel  John  E.,  at  battle  of  Great 
Bethel,  143, 145. 

Benjamin,  J.  P.,  signs  Davis's  proclamation, 
611. 


638 


INDEX. 


Benjamin,  Mr.,  takes  oath  of  allegiance,  440. 

Bennington,  battle  of,  incident,  13. 

Bickmore,  Major,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
573. 

Biloxi,  Miss.,  newspapers  brought  from,  209 ; 
expeditions  to,  213,  215. 

Birge,  Colonel,  commended,  5S5. 

Black,  Mr.,  Butlers  advice  to,  63,  64. 

Blackman,  private  A.,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Kouge,  573. 

Blair,  Montgomery,  Butler  to,  on  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  167 ;  "approves  Butler's  course,  593. 

Blake,  Captain,  his  alarm  at  Annapolis,  77;  his 
interview  with  Colonel  Butler,  79 ;  with  Gen- 
eral Butler,  80. 

Blasco  de  Garay,  the  Confederate  coin  shipped 
in,  3S0;  conveys  illicit  passengers  from  New 
Orleans,  394 ;  case  of.  406. 

Boardman,  Captain  F.,  with  Eighth  Regiment, 
74. 

Boggs,  Captain  Charles,  assists  Butler  at  Port 
Royal,  207;  his  gallantry  in  the  battle  above 
the  forts,  243;  sent  to  Butler,  245,  248,  249; 
returns  with  him,  250. 

Bombardment  of  forts  below  New  Orleans,  185, 
227,  229 ;  results  of,  250. 

Bonaparte,  Louis,  allusions  to,  50,  283. 

Bonaparte,  Napoleon,  allusions  to,  101,  290. 

Bonnell,  Mr.,  with  Winthrop,  92. 

Boston  Courier,  The,  upon  the  woman  order,  343. 

Bouligny,  Mr.,  runs  for  Congress,  527. 

Boutelle,  Captain,  assists  Butler  at  Port  Royal, 
207. 

Bovington,  Sergeant  John  A.,  distinguished  at 
Baton  Rouge,  572. 

Brady,  James  T.,  compared  with  Soule,  290. 

Bragg,  General  Braxton,  allusion  to,  520. 

Breckinridge,  John  C,  in  Charleston  Conven- 
tion, 49 ;  "his  platform  in  1S60,  56;  pledged  to 
the  Union,  57;  endeavors  to  prevent  civil 
war,  60 ;  project  to  place  him  in  the  White 
House.  65;  his  vote  in  New  Orleans  in  1860, 
253;  allusion  to,  436;  at  battle  of  Baton  Rouge, 
565,  566. 

Breed,  Bowman  G.,  with  Eighth  Regiment,  74. 

Briggs,  Captain  Henry  S.,  joins  Eighth  Regi- 
ment, 70,  72. 

British  Guard,  vote  to  send  their  arms  to  Beau- 
regard, 278 ;  consequences  of  the  measure,  357. 

Britton,  Barkley,  his  guns,  209. 

Broderick,  Mr.,  died  in  arms  of  Colonel  Butler, 
69. 

Brooklyn,  the,  protected  by  chain  armor,  225 ; 
runs  by  the  forts,  23S,  242. 

Brooks,  Sergeant,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
572. 

Brown,  Colonel  E.  M.,  detailed  to  edit  Delta  in 
New  Orleans,  312,  435. 

Brown,  John,  Butler's  speech  upon,  42;  hon- 
ored by  Phelps,  164;  Leacock  upon,  47S;  al- 
lusion to,  500. 

Brown,  Lieutenant,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  570,  572. 

Brown,  Mayor,  inactive  against  mob,  103;  his 
note  to  Butler,  112. 

Bruce,  Lieutenant  F.,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  573. 

Buchanan,  James,  his  terrors,  41 ;  rejects  But- 
ler's scheme,  64. 

Buchanan,  Lieutenant  McKean,  at  Ship  Island, 
197. 

Bull  Run,  battle  of,  167, 189. 


Burns,  Sergeant,  helps  Mumford  tear  down  flag, 
275. 

Burr,  Aaron,  allusion  to,  63,  292,  526. 

Business  in  New  Orleans,  407,  436. 

Butler,  Andrew  Jackson,  why  so  named,  14 ;  his 
boyhood,  16;  serves  as  volunteer  aide,  69; 
makes  purchases  at  Philadelphia,  71 ;  goes 
ashore  at  Annapolis,  76,79;  buys  horses  for 
Fortress  Monroe,  137;  assists  to  equip  New 
Orleans  expedition,  189;  brings  cattle  from 
Texas  to  New  Orleans,  303;  calumnies  respect- 
ing, 411;  allusion  to,  6S4;  denounced  by 
Davis,  610. 

Butler,  Captain  John,  his  career  and  politics, 
13.14,17. 

Butler,  Lieutenant,  at  battle  of  Great  Bethel, 
143. 

Butler,  General  Benjamin  F.,  his  lineage.  13; 
birth  and  childhood,  15;  education,  16;  at 
college,  19;  chooses  profession,  23;  voyage  to 
Labrador,  23 ;  studies  law,  24 ;  joins  mifitia,24 ; 
anecdotes  of  his  early  career  at  the  bar,  25,  26, 
27 ;  character  as  a  lawyer,  28;  debate  with  Mr. 
Lord,  31 ;  anecdote  of  his  legal  legerdemain,  32, 
the  scurvy  case,  33;  his  success  at  the  bar.  34  ,- 
examiner  at  West  Point,  35;  his  state  politics  ; 
36;  supports  the  ten  hour  law,  36;  in  tho 
legislature,  38;  his  national  politics,  38,  39,42; 
calls  on  Sumner,  42;  his  John  Brown  speech, 
42;  his  course  in  the  Charleston  Covention, 
45;  votes  for  Jeiferson  Davis,  55;  supports 
Breckinridge,  55,  56;  hooted  at  Lowell,  57; 
defends  his  course.  53;  runs  for  governor.  59  ; 
at  Washington,  in  December,  1S60,  60;  his  ad- 
vice to  Black,  63;  advises  Wilson  to  warn 
Governor  Andrew,  65;  his  own  advice  to  the 
governor,  66;  sends  flag  to  General  Dix,  67 
assists  the  departure  of  the  troops,  67 ;  or 
dered  to  take  command,  69 ;  starts  for  Wash- 
ington, 70;  at  Philadelphia,!!) ;  determines  to 
go" by  Annapolis,  71;  the  journey  to  Havre 
de  Grace,  73;  at  Annapolis,  76;  interview 
with  Lieutenant  Matthews,  77,  78;  replies  to 
Governor  Hicks  and  Captain  Miller.  So  ;  res- 
cues the  Constitution,  SO;  interview  with 
Governor  Hicks,  82;  order  of  the  day  at  An- 
napolis, 83;  Lefferts  refuses  to  join  him,  S5; 
seizes  railroad,  86;  offers  to  suppress  insur- 
rection in  Maryland,  89 ;  letter  to  Governor 
Hicks,  90 ;  orders  for  the  march.  91 ;  placed 
in  command  at  Annapolis,  93 ;  letter  to  Gov- 
ernor Andrew,  94  ;  confers  with  Scott  upon 
Baltimore,  105;  at  Relay  House,  106;  takes 
Baltimore,  111;  explores  Federal  Hill.  112; 
proclamation  at  Baltimore,  113;  dines  at  Gil- 
more  House,  115;  rebuked  by  Scott,  116; 
prepares  to  try  Winans,  116;  recalled  from 
Baltimore,  117;  offered  major-generalship, 
117:  speech  at  Washington,  117;  interview 
with  Scott,  119;  at  Fortress  Monroe,  122; 
first  measures  there,  123;  interview  with 
Carey,  on  contrabands,  127 ;  his  letters  to  Scott, 
on  his  operations  and  plans,  129,  133;  inter- 
view with  old  gentleman,  131 ;  no  horses  at 
the  Fortress,  137  ;  letter  to,  upon  his  position 
at  Fortress  Monroe,  138;  battle  of  Great 
Bethel,  139;  his  letter  to  Mrs.  Winthrop,  150; 
censured  for  Bethel,  152.  153 ;  correspondence 
with  Magruder,  153,  154;  suggests  examining 
board,  155;  war  upon  drinking,  157-159; 
correspondence  with  Stead.  161;  forbids  pil- 
lage, 162:  visited  by  Russell,  1S3;  to  Blair,  «n 


INDEX. 


639 


the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  167;  troops  ordered 
away,  167 ;  procures  promotion  for  Phelps, 
16S;  to  Cameron,  on  contrabands,  163;  to 
Tappan,  on  same.  173;  Southern  biography  of, 
174;  to  Baker,  asking  advice,  175;  recalled 
from  Fortress  Monroe.  175:  receives  appoint- 
ment from  Wool,  177;  commands  Hatteras 
expedition,  177;  recruits  in  New  England, 
171";  collision  with  Andrew,  ISO  to  184;  re- 
commends Ship  Island.  1S5;  sends  troops 
thither,  1S5;  his  opinion  upon  the  Mason  and 
Slidell  affair,  1S6;  letter  to  Colonel  Wheldon, 
on  supporting  families  of  his  troops,  1S7;  his 
staff,  18S;  testifies  before  war  committee, 
1S9;  urges  New  Orleans  project,  191 ;  placed 
over  Department  of  the  Gulf.  192;  leaves 
"Washington.  194:  his  remarks  upon  Phelps's 
proclamation.  201 ;  his  voyage  to  Ship  Island, 
203-208  ;  arrives  at  Ship  Island  203 ;  con- 
sults with  Farragut,  210;  embarks  troops, 
211;  sends  expedition  to  Biloxi,  215;  com- 
mends Blloxi  troops,  213;  meditates  descent 
upon  Pensacola,  219 ;  semis  coal  and  medicines 
to  the  fleet,  224  ;  readies  mouth  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, 232;  reaches  the  fleet,  233;  views  the 
running  bv.  239.  246;  conducts  troops  to  rear 
of  St.  Philip,  243;  goes  to  the  fleet  before 
Sew  Orleans,  250  ;  reaches  fleet,  and  advises 
threat  of  bombardment,  276;  orders  troops 
to  the  city,  277;  his  feeling  toward  the  rebel- 
lion. 273;  lands  in  New  Orleans,  230:  first 
measures,  232;  interview  with  the  mayor, 
2?5;  orders  Summers  to  Custom-House,  238; 
conducts  Mrs.  Butler  to  the  St.  Charles,  2S9; 
mode  of  treating  abusive  letters,  290;  inter- 
view with  mayor  and  council,  290-297:  his 
person  and  manner  described.  291  ;  reply  to 
Soule,  295;  consents  to  withdraw  the  troops 
from  New  Orleans.  293;  feeds  and  employs 
the  poor.  300;  rebukes  mayor  and  council. 
804,305;  to  Shepley,  on  cleaning  the  streets. 
307;  taxes  rich  for  support  of  poor,  309- 
312;  to  Stanton,  defending  poor  tax, 316;  sup- 

Rorts  charities  of  New  Orleans,  320;  to  Santa 
laria  Clara,  320;  to  Halleck,  on  poor  in 
New  Orleans.  321;  repeats  poor  tax,  322; 
basis  of  his  policy  in  New  Orleans,  323;  for- 
bids Davis's  fast,  323 ;  issues  woman  order, 
327;  to  mayor  and  council,  on  French  fleet, 
829:  deposes  and  commits  mayor,  331-335; 
to  the  mayor,  on  the  woman  order,  833  ;  ar- 
rests Soufe,  33S;  defends  woman  order,  342; 
his  courtesy  to  Mrs.  Slocomb,  344;  to  Mrs. 
Beauregard!!  345 ;  orders  execution  of  Mum- 
ford,  346;  orders  execution  of  six  paroled 
prisoners,  347;  correspondence  with  Rosier 
and  Durant,  upon,  849 ;  reprieves  them,  351 ; 
interview  with  Mercer  upon  Mumford,  351 ; 
compared  with  Seward,  355;  banishes  the 
British  guard.  357;  ignores  Coppell,  359;  re- 
plies to  Heidsicek,  360;  seizes  silver  from 
Conturie.  365  to  377:  receives  Reverdy  John- 
son, 371;  detects  French  consul,  373-332; 
defends  seizure  of  the  sugar.  383;  defends 
seizure  of  Kennedy  «fc  Co's  bill,  3S6;  explains 
case  of  Avendano  Brothers,  339  ;  his  measures 
against  yellow  fever,  893-406 ;  his  efforts 
to  revive  business,  407;  buys  sugar  for  bal- 
last. 408;  sends  cotton  home.  409  ;  calumnies 
against,  409;  failed  to  get  cotton,  413;  re- 
stores currency  of  New  Orleans.  414;  affairs 
with   the   banks  of   New   Orleans,   413-431 ; 


redresses  Union  men  in  New  Orleans,  431; 
engraves  Union  motto  on  Jackson's  statue, 
432  ;  seizes  Delta,  435;  reforms  public  schools, 
435;  visits  Baton  Rouge,  440  ;  commits  Mrs. 
Philips,  Andrews,  and  Keller,  441,  442;  con- 
founds Wright.  443;  detects  and  hangs  four 
robbers,  445-44S;  issues  oath  order,  450; 
correspondence  with  consuls  on  same.  454- 
459;  disarms  New  Orleans,  463;  to  French 
consul,  on  same,  464;  confiscates  Twiggs  and 
Slidell,  467;  prepares  for  confiscation  act, 
461,409:  to  Seward,  on  Fago  case.  470;  or- 
ders register  of  property,  473;  Jeff  Thomp- 
son to,"474;  replies  to  Mercer,  475;  confis- 
cates dividends,  476;  Leacock  to,  on  his  ser- 
mon, 479;  on  the  oath,  481;  banishes  the 
clergymen,  4S4;  pressure  upon,  for  passes, 
435,436;  his  course  upon  negro  question  in 
New  Orleans,  491;  correspondence  with 
Phelps,  upon,  497 ;  to  Stanton,  on  Phelps, 
504;  raises  regiments  of  free  colored  men, 
517;  to  Weitzel,  on  same,  51 S;  works  aban- 
doned plantations,  522;  his  contract  with  the 
planters,  523 ;  proposes  to  free  slaves  of  for- 
eigners, 529-531;  negro  anecdotes  related 
by  and  of,  532;  to  Bates,  on  convicts'  children, 
534;  reviews  regiment  at  reception  of  colors, 
535;  delivers  Jeff,  536;  John  Andrew,  539; 
protects  Pugh's  negroes,  541 ;  supplies  wants 
of  Cock's  daughter,  543;  punishes  Landry, 
547;  his  change  of  opinion  u;>on  slavery,  549; 
bis  military  operations,  551;  governing  the 
troops,  555;  his  war  upon  guerillas  ,"559- 
565;  upon  battle  at  Baton  Rouge.  566:  se- 
questers Lafourche,  581;  in  his  office,  5S7; 
recall  from  New  Orleans,  593-599;  pro- 
poses to  roof  Custom-House,  594;  sends  Hill  to 
Havana,  594;  his  popularity  in  New  Orleans, 
595;  to  Lincoln,  on  his  recall,  597;  receives 
Banks,  599;  his  farewell  order,  600;  Appleton 
to,  601;  his  farewell  address,  602;  proclaimed 
a  felon  by  Davis.  607;  reward  offered  for  kill- 
ing him,  612;  leaves  New  Orleans,  612;  at 
Washington,  614:  reception  by  the  people, 
615-617;  his  recent  speeches,  613-625; 
remarks  upon  his  character,  625. 

Butler,  Captain  Zephaniah,  fought  under 
Wolfe,  13. 

Butler.  Mrs.  Mere,  her  lineage,  13;  left  a  widow, 
14;  educates  her  boy,  16-18. 

Butler,  Mrs.  Sarah,  allusion  to,  35;  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  149  ;  Mrs.  Johnson  to,  152;  enter- 
tains Russell.  164 ;  starts  for  New  Orleans,  194 ; 
on  the  voyage,  205,  206;  elothes  little  girl  at 
Ship  Island,  213 :  arrives  at  the  St,  Charles,  in 
New  Orleans,  2S9  ;  allusion  to,  291. 

Burrows.  Captain,  ordered  to  leave  New  Or- 
leans, 357,  359. 

Byain,  Major,  takes  oath  of  allegiance,  440. 


Cable,  the,  described,  221 ;  cut,  235,  236. 

Cadwallader,  General,  succeeds  Butler  at  Bal- 
timore, 117. 

Cahill,  Colonel  T.  W.,  in  Biloxi  expedition, 
215;  appointed  on  jail  commission,  529;  dis- 
tinguished at  Baton  Rouge,  571. 

Caldwell,  Captain,  cuts  the  cable,  285. 

Calhoun.  John  C,  conversation  with  Stewart, 
89 ;  allusion  to,  60,  266. 

Callijon.  Senor  Juan,  in  case  of  the  Cardenas, 
404,  405  ;  to  Butler,  on  the  oath,  456. 


Cameron,  Simon,  orders  troops  from  Massa- 
chusetts, 68,  69;  ignorant  of  military  matters, 
102;  Butler  to,  on  Winans,  116;  approves 
Butlers  taking  Baltimore,  117  ;  correspond- 
ence with  Butler  on  contrabands,  168-173; 
authorizes  Butler  to  recruit  in  New  England, 
179,  1S1,  183;  retires  from  office,  1S9. 

Camp  Parapet,  negroes  at,  496. 

Cardenas,  the,  case  of,  400,  402. 

Carey,  Major  J.  N.,  interview  with  Butler, 
127. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  quoted  upon  criticism,  18 ; 
upon  impressment  of  seamen,  221. 

Carr.  Colonel,  at  Great  Bethel,  146. 

C  arney,  James  G.,  procures  loan  from  his  bank 
to  help  off  troops,  68. 

Carroll  family,  Butler  proposes  to  arrest 
members  of,  107. 

Carrollton,  Louisiana,  visited  by  Farragut,  273; 
Phelps  in  command  at,  298. 

Carter,  vidette,  exchanged,  154,  155. 

Catinet,  the,  at  New  Orleans,  330. 

Cavaroc,  C,  his  notice  to  depositors,  418. 

Cayu«a,  the,  runs  by  the  forts,  238,  241,  245. 

Center,  Captain  A.,  with  Eighth  Regiment,  74. 

Ceres,  the,  in  expedition  against  Ponchatoula, 
577. 

Cilley,  Colonel,  at  battle  of  Bennington,  13. 

Cilley,  Mr.,  shot  in  duel,  13. 

Citizens1  Bank  of  New  Orleans,  its  silver 
seized,  364 — 376;  its  correspondence  with 
Butler,  on  Confederate  property,  427. 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  calls  Butler  the  cheapest  of 
generals,  309,  409 ;  receives  Confederate 
money  from  New  Orleans,  431;  approves 
Butler's  course,  593. 

Chalmette,  batteries  at,  reduced,  268. 

Charity  Hospital  of  New  Orleans,  scene  in,  259 ; 
aided  by  Butler,  312. 

Charleston  Convention,  General  Butler  in,  45. 

Chatham,  Lord,  quoted,  127. 

Chessman,  Lieutenant,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge.  573. 

Cheever,  Sergeant,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  571,  573. 

Choate,  Bufus,  in  the  scurvy  case,  33 ;  anec- 
dote of,  41. 

Churchill,  C.  C,  serves  at  Fortress  Monroe,  177. 

Clara,  Santa  Maria,  Butler  to,  on  bombardment 
of  Donaldsonville,  321. 

Clarke,  Captain  C.  E.,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  572. 

Clark,  Captain  John,  in  Biloxi  expedition,  215, 
216;  distributes  food  among  poor,  306 ;  de- 
tailed to  edit  Delta,  312,  435;  commended 
585. 

Clarke,  Lieutenant  H.  C,  on  staff  of  Butler,  212. 

Clary,  W.  M.,  executed,  447,  449. 

Clifton,  the,  in  the  running  by  the  forts,  238. 

Clogston,  private,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
573. 

Clouet,  Captain  de,  remonstrates  against  bom- 
bardment of  New  Orleans,  276. 

Cocks,  John  G.,  his  property  seized  in  New 
Orleans,  431 ;  his  letter  to  Anderson,  542 ;  his 
brutal  incest,  543. 

Conant,  Captain,  in  Biloxi  expedition,  215; 
wounded,  216;  arrests  Soule,  338. 

Confiscation  act  enforced  in  Louisiana,  467. 

Connecticut,  the,  fired  at,  402. 

Constitution,  frigate,  rescued  by  Eighth  Massa- 
chusetts, 80. 


Constitution,  the  transport,  voj 
Island,  197. 

Consuls  in  New  Orleans,  for  secession,  254;  call 
on  Butler,  298;  protest  against  poor  tax,  313; 
Butler's  argument  upon,  314;  their  import- 
ance in  New  Orleans,  354;  protest  against 
seizure  of  silver,  368 ;  against  the  seizure  of 
the  sugar,  3S2 ;  Butler  to,  3S3. 

Continental  Monthly,  quoted  upon  survey  of 
the  Mississippi,  227. 

Contrabands,  the,  at  Fortress  Monroe,  126, 129. 
130;  letters  upon,  of  Butler  and  Cameron^ 
168-173;  serve  on  Hatteras  expedition,  178. 

Conturie,  Amedie,  silver  seized  from,  365- 
377. 

Convicts'  children  in  Louisiana,  534. 

Cook's  battery,  at  Relay  House,  106. 

Coppell,  George,  protests  against  banishment 
of  British  Guard,  357;  ignored  by  Butler, 
859;  Butler  to,  on  the  sugar,  3S5;  supposed 
author  of  consul's  letter,  456;  correspondence 
with  Butler  on  the  oath,  460;  approves  free- 
ins  of  foreigners'  slaves,  531 ;  complains  of 
John  Andrew,  539. 

Cordin,  Captain,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
570. 

Carruth,  Lieutenant,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  570. 

Cotman,  Dr.,  declines  to  run  for  Congress,  526. 

Cotton,  burnt  at  New  Orleans,  265;  Moore 
urges  planters  to  burn,  266 ;  Lovell  approves 
burning,  271;  forbidden  to  be  brought  to 
New  Orleans,  315;  oh  what  terms  exported 
bv  Confederates,  815;  sent  home  by  Butler, 
4l0,  413. 

Cotton  kingdom,  the,  its  morality,  257-263. 

Covas,  Mr.,  seizure  of  fcis  sugar,  383. 

Crage,  G.  W.,  executed,  447,  449. 

Craven,  Captain,  in  the  running  by  the  forts, 
241. 

Creasey,  George,  advocate  of  Eighth  Regiment, 
74. 

Currency  of  New  Orleans,  mayor  offers  to  re- 
deem Confederate  notes,  269;  Confederate 
notes  permitted  to  circulate,  294;  Butler's 
measures  to  restore,  414-431. 

Curtis,  George  W.,  quoted  upon  "Winthrop,  149, 
150. 

Cushing,  Caleb,  in  Charleston  convention,  45. 

Cushing,  Lieutenant  J.  W.,  on  staff  of  Butler, 
212. 

Custom-House  of  New  Orleans,  Farragut  orders 
United  States  flag  upon,  270, 272 ;  flag  hoisted 
upon,  278 ;  United  States  troops  enter,  280. 

Cut-off,  suggested  by  Butler,  554. 

Cyprien's  Canal,  troops  stationed  near,  251. 


Davis,  Captain,  bears  flag  of  truce,  154. 

Davis,  Captain  R.  S.,  on  voyage  to  Ship  Island, 
205;  announced,  212;  in  Biloxi  expedition, 
215;  in  affair  of  Wright.  444;  Phelps  to, 
on  the  negroes,  498,  505-507;  commended, 
5S5. 

Davis.  Jefferson,  his  opinion  of  Yankees,  15; 
voted  for  by  Butler  at  Charleston,  55;  visited 
by  Butler  at  Washington,  62;  cheered  at 
New  Orleans,  269 ;  his  fast-day  annulled  in 
New  Orleans,  823 ;  how  prayed  for  in  New 
Orleans,  338;  cheered  by  crew  of  Rinaldo, 
393;  knew  of  Butler's  recall,  599;  denounces 
Butler  as  a  felon,  607. 


INDEX. 


641 


Davis,  Mr.,  his  testimony  on  Confederate  loan, 
379. 

De  Bow,  J.  B.  D,  allusion  to,  266,  352 ;  effects 
loan  for  Confederate  cloth,  378. 

Dcerfield,  New  Hampshire,  politics  of,  14 ; 
General  Butler  born  there,  15. 

De  Kay,  Lieutenant,  his  funeral,  438-442. 

Delta,  New  Orleans,  quoted  upon  dueling,  259; 
upon  poor-tax,  312;  quoted  upon  women  of 
New  Orleans,  828;  upon  Butler's  currency 
measures,  426. ;  change  of  editors,  by  author- 
ity, 435 ;  its  humor,  435 ;  quoted  upon  the  con- 
suls, 453;  upon  Hawkins's  house,  462;  on  the 
oath,  474;  denoanced  by  Leacock,  481;  cu- 
rious entry  in  its  books,  538. 

Deming,  Colonel  IT.  C,  lands  in  New  Orleans, 
281,  2S3 ;  appointed  on  jail  commission,  529 ; 
speaks  in  New  Orleans,  595;  commended, 
585. 

Democratic  party,  in  New  Hampshire,  14;  its 
alliance  with  the  South,  39 ;  split  in  Charles- 
ton Convention,  46;  secret  of  its  power  in 
great  cities,  254. 

Denegre,  Mr.,  in  affair  of  the  silver,  374. 

Devereux,  Captidn  Arthur  F.,  detailed  to  seize 
ferry  boat,  72,  74. 

Deynoodt,  Joseph,  to  Butler,  on  the  oath,  456. 

Dickens,  Charles,  one  of  his  characters,  59. 

Dickenson,  Charles,  his  duel  with  Jackson, 
262. 

Dike,  Captain,  his  promptness  to  ioin  Sixth 
Massachusetts,  68  ;  wounded  at  Baltimore,  68. 

Dimmick,  Colonel,  at  Fortress  Monroe,  120, 
123,  136. 

Dimon,  Lieutenant  C.  A.  E.,  distinguished  at 
Baton  Rouge,  571. 

Dix,  General  John  A.,  receives  flag  from  But- 
ler, 67;  his  rank,  120;  allusion  to,  168;  com- 
mands expedition  in  Virginia,  184. 

Dominique,  Henry,  case  of,  432. 

Donaghue,  John,  distinguished  at  Baton  Eouge, 
573. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  in  Charleston  conven- 
tion, 45,  47,  49, 52-54 ;  his  platform,  in  1860, 
56;  his  vote  in  New  Orleans,  in  1S60,  253. 

Doyle,  Daniel,  ordered  for  execution,  347 ;  re- 
prieved, 351. 

Duane.  James,  his  narrative  respecting  the 
Einaldo  at  New  Orleans,  393. 

Dudley,  Captain,  distinguished  at  Baton  Eouge, 
570. 

Duels,  cause  of,  in  New  Orleans,  259 ;  between 
Alston  and  Reed,  260;  between  Eeed  and 
another,  262. 

Duffee,  private  J.  E.,  distinguished  at  Batou 
Eouge,  573. 

Dumas,  Alexander,  allusion  to,  518. 

Duncan,  General  J.  H.,  commands  forts,  221; 
his  confidence,  223,  238 ;  denounced  in  New 
Orleans,  266  ;  harangues  in  New  Orleans,  277. 

Duncan,  Lieutenant,  at  Great  Bethel,  146. 

Duncan,  Mr.,  writes  letter  for  mayor  of  New 
Orleans,  331 ;  committed  to  Fort  Jackson,  335. 

Dupasseur  and  Co.,  buy  coin  in  New  Orleans, 
373,  376. 

Durand,  A.,  his  suit  of  Bank  of  Louisiana.  423. 

Durant,  Thomas  J.,  quoted  upon  the  Creole 
sugar-planters  and  secession,  253 ;  his  devo- 
tion to  the  Union,  254 ;  pleads  for  paroled 
prisoners,  349;  speaks  in  New  Oileans,  595. 

Durell,  E.  H.,  appointed  on  jail  commission, 
529. 


Durvea,  Colonel  A.,  at  battle  of  Great  Bethel, 
141,  144,  145. 


Easterbrook,  Lieutenant  J.  E.,  on  staff  of  But- 
ler, 212. 
Edminster,  Corporal,   distinguished  at    Baton 

Rouge,  573. 
Edwards,  Jonathan,  Winthrop  descended  from, 

149. 
Eighth  Massachusetts   militia,  leaves  Boston, 

70;   at  Philadelphia,  70;  to  Havre  de  Grace, 

73 ;  at  Annapolis,  76 ;   march  to  Washington, 

91. 
Eighth  New  York  militia,  at  Eelay  House,  106. 
Elliot,    Lieutenant    H.   H.,    distinguished    at 

Baton  Rouge,  571. 
El  well,    Lieutenant-Colonel     Andrew,      with 

Eighth  Regiment,  74. 
English  Bend,  McClellan  upon,  193 ;  batteries 

at,  reduced,  268. 
Estafetto  du  Sud,  resumes  publication,  434. 
European  Brigade,  protects  New  Orleans,  264, 

266,  268,  292 ;  disbanded,  329. 
Everett,  Captain.,   in    Biloxi  expedition,  215; 

lands  in  rear  of  St.  Philip,  249  ;  lands  in  New 

Orleans.  280,   2S3  ;     distinguished  at  Baton 

Rouge,  570 ;  commended,  585. 
Everett,Edward,  New  Orleans  votes  for,  in  1860, 

253. 
Exchange  of  prisoners,  begun  by  Butler,  153, 

154. 
Exeter,    New  Hampshire,    General  Butler  at 

school  there,  16. 


Fago,  C.  McDonald,  case  of,  470. 

Farewell  address  to  the  people  of  New  Orleans, 
602. 

Farragut,  Admiral,  David  G. ,  allusion  to,  67 ; 
in  consultation  with  Butler,  at  Ship  Island, 
210;  announces  his  readiness,  219;  his  cha- 
racter, 225;  reconnoiters  forts,  227;  tele- 
graphs news  to  the  fleet,  232;  his  order  for  the 
running  by,  234:  runs  by  the  forts,  237- 
245 ;  letters  to  Butler  and  Porter,  249 ;  an- 
chors before  New  Orleans,  250.  266;  the  pas- 
sage up  the  Mississippi,  267,  269;  send? 
Bailey  on  shore,  269;  in  correspondence  with 
mayor  of  New  Orleans,  272-274;  visits  Car- 
rollton,  273 ;  orders  divine  service,  275 ; 
threatens  to  bombard  New  Orleans,  276;  sur- 
renders the  situation  to  Butler,  279 ;  goes  to 
Baton  Rouge,  298 :  bombards  Donaldsonville, 
320;  at  Vicksburgh,  554;  salutes  Butler  on 
his  departure,  611,  612. 

Farrington,  Captain,  in  Ponchatoula  expedition, 
576. 

Fassett,  Lieutenant,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  573. 

Fauconnett,  M.,  intercedes  for  French  news 
paper,  434. 

Fav,  Major,  at  conference  with  Carey,  127. 

Federal  Hill,  seized  by  Butler,  112. 

Felton,  Mr.,  assists  General  Butler  at  Philadel- 
phia, 71. 

Field,  Lieutenant  D.  C.  G.,  appointed  to  re- 
ceive poor  tax,  310, 322 ;  to  receive  dividends, 
476. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  New  Orleans  votes  for,  in 
1856,  253. 

Fiske,  Major  W  O.,  commended,  585. 


642 


INDEX. 


Flanders,  B.  F.,  runs  for  Congress,  527 ;  elected, 
595. 

Florence,  Rowena,  claims  Twiggs's  swords,  4CS, 
015. 

Floyd,  John  B.,  in  Buchanan's  cabinet,  64. 

Forstall,  Edmund  J.,  votes  for  reception  of 
French  fleet  at  New  Orleans,  830 ;  in  afi'air  of 
the  silver,  372,  373,  472. 

Forsyth,  John,  allusion  to,  58. 

Fort  Jackson,  McCIellan  upon,  193;  its  re- 
ported armament.  209;  described,  219;  recon- 
noitered,  227  ;  bombarded,  227,  229 ;  barracks 
Of,  burnt,  282 ;  run  by,  241 ;  condition  when 
taken.  251 ;  visited  by  Butler,  277. 

Fortress  Monroe,  condition  in  April,  1SG0,  G9 ; 
Butler  commands  at,  120;  described,  122;  al- 
lusion to,  491. 

Fort  St.  Philip,  McCIellan  upon,  193;  its  arma- 
ment, as  reported,  209 ;  plan  to  reduce,  211; 
described,  219;  bombarded.  227,  229;  run  by, 
241 ;  condition  when  taken,  250,  251 ;  visited 
by  Butler,  277. 

Fourteenth  Maine,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
570. 

Fourth  Wisconsin,  193;  lands  in  New  Orleans, 
2S0. 

Fox,  assistant  secretary  of  navy,  supports  New 
Orleans  expedition,  191. 

Fox,  the,  captured  by  McMillan,  3S6,  390. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  of  Saxon  lineage,  13;  the 
consummate  Yankee,  15;  allusion  to,  70; 
recommended  building  ships  in  compart- 
ments, 205;  the  public  threatened  with  a 
biography  of,  607. 

Fremont,  General  John  C,  his  rank,  120. 

French,  Captain,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
573. 

French,  Colonel  Jonas  H.,  on  staff  of  Butler, 
212;  in  Biloxi  expedition,  215;  demands 
St  Charles  Hotel.  284;  interview  with  the 
mayor  of  New  Orleans,  2S5;  appointed  pro- 
vost-marshal of  New  Orleans,  297;  advertises 
for  policemen,  337 ;  his  report  on  the  oath, 
462  ;  demands  gas-works1  negroes  of  Phelps, 
513 ;  in  his  office,  590. 

French  fleet  at  New  Orleans,  letter  of  Butler  to 
mayor  and  council  respecting,  329. 

Freret,  George  A.,  his  notice  to  depositors,  41C. 

Frying-pan  Shoals,  the  Mississippi  upon,  205. 

Fuller,  Captain,  on  Lafourche  commission,  6S2. 

Fulton,  Dr.,  sent  to  Fort  Lafayette,  4S4, 


Galveston,  attack  upon  contemplated,  194. 

Gardner,  Lieutenant  W.  II.,  distinguished  at 
battle  of  Baton  Rouge,  572. 

Gardner,  Sergeant,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  573. 

Garrison,  W.  L.,  allusion  to,  93. 

Gaulding,  Mr.,  supports  Douglas,  58. 

Gautherin  &  Co.,  their  affair"  with  the  French 
consul,  37S-3S2. 

George,  Captain  Paul  R.,  equips  New  Orleans 
expedition,  187;  rejected  by  senate,  1SS,  211; 
abundance  provided  by.  224. 

Gerdes,  F.  1L,  survevs  the  Mississippi  below 
forts,  226. 

Glenn,  Samuel  F.,  at  market  of  New  Orleans, 
284;  goes  to  St.  Charles  Hotel,  284;  to  City 
Hall,  2S5;  his  services  in  provost  court.  434. 

Glisson,  Commander  O.  S.,  assists  the  Missis- 
sippi, 206. 


Gooding,  Colonel  O.  P.,  lands  in  New  Orleans, 

230. 
Goodrich,   Dr.,  his  church  closed  by  Strong 

483;  refuses  to  pray  for  president  of  United 

States,  4S4;  sent  North,  4S4;  interview  wit!. 

Strong,  4S5. 
Goodwin,  John,  Jr.,  with  Eighth  Regiment,  74. 
Gottschalk,  Mr.,  allusion  to,  92. 
Gourgand,  M..  quoted,  30. 
Grant,  General  U.  S.,  allusion  to,  322;   thinkt, 

slavery  doomed.  528. 
Great  Bethel,  battle  of,  139. 
Greble,  Lieutenant,  at  battle  of  Great  Bethel 

143-145,  14S,  149. 
Griffin,  J.  Q.  A.  A.,  his  recollections  of  Butler  at 

the  bar,  29,  35. 
Grimsby,  Captain  James,  distinguished  at  Baton 

Rouge,  572. 
Guerillas,  treatment  of  by  Butler,  559-565,  574. 
Gunn,  Thomas  Butler,  quoted  upon  markets  in 

New  Orleans,  592. 


Haggerty,  Captain  Peter,  goes  ashore  at  Annap- 
olis, 78,  79;  at  conference  with  Carey,  127; 
joins  Butler's  staff,  1S9;  announced,  212;  com- 
mended, 5S5. 

Hahn,  Michael,  elected  to  Congress,  595. 

Haines,  T.  J.,  serves  at  Fortress  Monroe,  160. 

Haley,  Sergeant  John,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  572. 

Halleck,  General  II.  W.,  Butler  to,  on  poor  in 
New  Orleans,  321 ;  on  his  recall,  593 ;  orders 
Butler's  recall,  599;  Davis  upon,  608. 

Hamilton,  General  Schuyler,  joins  Butler  at  An- 
napolis, 87;  his  letters  to  Butler  at  Relay 
House,  109. 

Hamilton,  Mr.,  speaks  in  New  Orleans,  595. 

Hampton,  Va.,  Phelps  at,  126;  described  by 
Russell,  165;  evacuated,  163. 

Hare,  Robert,  guides  troops  to  Federal  Hill,  111. 

Harper  s  Magazine,  quoted  upon  yellow  fever  at 
New  Orleans,  395,  397. 

Harriet  Lane,  the,  in  the  running  by  the  forts, 
238;  receives  surrender  of  forts,  2ft0. 

Harris,  Mr.,  interview  with  Butler,  335. 

Harroll,  Mr.,  his  testimony  on  Confederate  loan, 
8S0. 

Hartford,  the,  not  chain  plated,  226;  Butler  on 
board, '233;  runs  by  the  forts,  233,  241,  244, 
245;  salutes  Butler  on  his  departure,  612. 

Hatteras  Inlet,  expedition  against,  177 ;  Butler 
off,  204. 

Haven,  Rev.  Gilbert,  with  Eighth  Regiment,  74. 

Havre  de  Grace,  General  Butler  at,  74,  75. 

Hawkins,  John,  his  drinking  house,  462. 

Haves,  Major,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
571. 

Hayne,  Paul  II.,  his  poem  on  the  woman  order, 
840. 

Heenan,  John,  allusion  to,  356. 

Heidsieck,  Charles,  comes  to  New  Orleans  dis- 
guised as  bar-keeper,  304;  his  case  stated, 
360-363. 

Herald,  New  York,  quoted  upon  Farragut's  re- 
connoitering  the  forts,  227 ;  its  reporter  in  the 
fleet,  236,  240,  245,  26S. 

nicks.  Governor,  orders  Butler  not  to  land,  7S; 
Butler's  reply,  SO ;  interview  with  Butler,  82; 
protests  against,  the  landing,  S2,  85;  another 
protest,  90;  allusions  to,  96. 


INDEX. 


643 


Hlggiafl,  Colonel,  commands  Fort  St.  Philip, 

221 ;  his  confidence,  223. 
Hill,  Captain,  goes  to  Havana,  594. 
Hill,  Isaac,  bis  career  and  boyhood,  14. 
Hinks,  Colonel  Edward  W.,  with  Eighth  Eegi- 

ineut,  74 ;  in  advance  at  Annapolis,  88,  91. 
Hollins,  Commodore,  allusion  to,  209. 
Holmes,  Lieutenant  N.,  assists  Mumford  to  tear 

down  flag,  275. 
Holt,  Dr.A.  T.,  distinguished  at  Baton  Eouge,572. 
Holt,  M.,  his  drinking  house,  462. 
Homans,  Charles,  repairs  locomotive,  85;  runs 

it,  91,  93. 
Hooker,  General  Joseph,  allusion  to,  69. 
Hope  &,  Co.,  their  silver  seized,  367;  Forstall 

to,  on  the  seizure  of  the  silver,  373. 
Houma,  visited  by  Keith,  563. 
Howe,  Lieutenant  N.  G.,  distinguished  at  Baton 

Eouge,  571. 
Howell,    Lieutenant,    distinguished   at   Baton 

Eouge,  572,  573. 
Hoyt,  Assistant  Engineer,  protects  the  Eich- 

mond,  225. 
Huckins,    Mr.,  votes  for  reception    of  French 

fleet  at  New  Orleans,  330. 
Hudson,  Captain  James,  Jr.,  with  Eighth  Eegi- 
ment, 74. 
Huger,  J.  M.,  428,  430. 
Hugo,  Victor,  quoted,  29. 
Humphrey,  Dr.  Wesley,  upon  cruelty  to  slaves, 

494. 
Hunt,  Eendal,  delivers  letter  to  Forstall,  375. 
Hunter,   General   David,  his    proclamation  of 

freedom  annulled,  492. 


Ida,  the,  case  of,  402. 

Hsley,  Edwin,  aid  to  Shepley,  337. 

Ingalls,  E.  A.,  with  Eighth  Eegiment,  74. 

Insurrection,  letters  upon,  of  Butler  and  An- 
drew, 94,  95;  remarks  upon,  98;  Butler  to 
Weitzel  upon.  518. 

Iroquois,  the,  grapples  fire-raft,  228;  runs  by 
the  forts,  238,  241, 

Isabella  of  Spain,  allusion  to,  259. 

Itasca,  the,  cuts  the  cable,  235,  236;  attempts 
to  run  by  forts,  239. 


Jackman,  Sergeant,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Eouge,  573. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  of  Scotch-Irish  blood,  13 ;  al- 
lusions to,  262,  292,  296. 

Jackson,  the  gunboat,  in  Biloxi  expedition, 
215,  217 ;  in  the  running  by  the  forts,  238. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  John  Adams  to,  23. 

Jeff,  story  of,  536. 

Johnson,  Captain,  anecdote  of,  426. 

Johnson,  Herschell,  candidate  for  vice-presi- 
dency, 55. 

Johnson,  Laura  W.,  to  Mrs.  Butler,  152. 

Johnson,  Eeverdy,  in  Charleston  Convention, 
50,  356 ;  a  Southern  man,  356;  appointed  com- 
missioner to  New  Orleans,  371 ;  he  decides 
upon  the  silvei-,  373;  upon  the  Dupasseur 
coin,  376 ;  restores  coin  to  French  consul,  380 ; 
restores  the  sugar,  3S5;  restores  Kennedy  and 
Co/s  fine,  3S7 ;  effects  of  his  decisions,  389, 
391,  470,  472. 

Jones,  Colonel  Edward  F..  assembles  the  Sixth 
Eegiment,  67;  lands  troops  in  rear  of  St.  Phi- 
lip, 249;  appointed  to  command  forts,  277. 


Jones,  John  M.,  at  battle  of  Great  Bethel,  145 

150. 
Juge,  General,    commands  European  Brigade, 

268;  calls  upon  Butler,  298. 


Kane,  Marshal,  in  sympathy  with  secession,  103. 

Kane,  Patrick,  ordered  for  execution,  347; 
reprieved,  351. 

Kapff,  Captain,  at  Great  Bethel,  146. 

Katahdin,  the,  runs  by  the  forts,  238,  241. 

Keith,  Colonel,  John  (J.,  granted  leave  of  ab- 
sence, 557;  excursion  into  Lafourche,  563; 
distinguished  at  Baton  Eouge,  571;  com- 
mended, 585. 

Keller,  Fidel,  committed  to  Ship  Island,  441. 

Kelty,  Captain  Eugene,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  571,  572. 

Kemble,  Frances  Ann,  quoted  upon  slavery, 
549. 

Kennebec,  Colonel,  commended,  585. 

Kennebec,  the,  reconnoiters  forts,  227;  in 
expedition  to  cut  the  cable,  235 ;  attempts  to 
run  by  the  forts,  239,  241. 

Kennedy,  Judge,  committed  to  Fort  Jackson, 
335. 

Kennedy,  P.  II.  and  Co.,  case  of,  385. 

Kensel,  Captain  George  A.,  on  staff  of  Butler, 
212  ;  landing  in  New  Orleans,  280,  281 ;  com- 
mended, 585. 

Kimball,  Colonel,  attacks  Manchac  Pass,  565. 

Kineo,  the,  runs  by  the  forts,  238,  241. 

Kinsman,  Colonel,  J.  B.,  joins  Butler's  Staff,  189 ; 
announced,  212;  in  Biloxi  expedition,  235, 
216 ;  views  the  running  by  the  forts,  246 ; 
conducts  Summers  to  the  St.  Charles,  286; 
to  Custom-House,  28S ;  takes  possession  of 
SlidelPs  house,  345;  seizes  the  silver,  366; 
asks  a  question  of  Seward,  369  ;  presides  in 
provost  court,  434 ;  restores  Miss  Montamal 
to  her  parents,  532  ;  captures  a  steamboat, 
552;  visits  Lafourche,  561;  on  Lafourche's 
commission,  5b2-5Sl ;  commended,  585. 

Knight,  Corporal  Isaac,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Eouge,  572. 

Know  Nothing  Party,  its  evil  influence  in  New 
Orleans,  299. 

Kossuth,  Mr.,  receives  fee  from  Gautherin,  330. 

Kroehl,  Mr.,  attempts  to  blowup  the  cable,  235. 

Kruttsmidt,  Mr.,  for  secession,  254,  316 ;  sub 
scribes  for  the  defense  of  New  Orleans,  317 
319. 


Labarre  de,  Mr.,  votes  for  reception  of  French 

fleet  at  New  Orleans,  330. 
La  Blanche,   Babilliard,  his  negroes  at   Camp 

Parapet,  498,  502,  504. 
Lafourche,  visited  by  Kinsman,  561;  by  Keith, 

563 ;  conquest  of,  5S0 ;  sequestered,  581. 
Lall,  Colonel,  commended,  5S5. 
Lanata,  Joseph,  to  Butler,  on  the  oath,  456. 
Landry,  Mr.,  his  cruelty  to  his  daughter,  547. 
Lane,  Joseph,  candidate  for  vice-presidency,  55 
Larue,  John  II.,  committed  as  a  vagrant,  438. 
Larue,  Mrs.,  excites  a  riot  in  New  Orleans,  437. 
Latham,   Adjutant,    distinguished     at     Baton 

Eouge,  571 ,572. 
Leacoek,  Eev.  Dr.,  does  not  appear  at  funeral 

of  De  Kay,  439 ;  his  letter  to  Butler,  on  bis 

sermon,  479  ;  on  the  oath,  481. 
Lee,  General  Eobcrt  E.,  607. 


6-14 


INDEX. 


Loo,  Miss,  Interview  with  officers  at  Pass 
Christian,  218. 

Loo,  Mrs.,  interview  with  officers  at  Pass 
Christian,  21S. 

Lefferts,  Colonel  M.,  declines  to  accompany  But- 
ler,  TO,  71;  reaches  Annapolis,  S3;  refuses  to 
join  Butler,  S3 ;  consents,  S7 ;  remarks  upon,  SS. 

Lemore,  Alfred,  supplies  cloth  to  Confederates, 
379 ;  arrested,  880. 

Lemore,  Jules,  supplies  cloth  to  Confederates, 
379 ;  arrested,  3SU. 

Lemore,  S.  A.  &  Co.,  supply  cloth  to  Confeder- 
ates, 379. 

Leonard,  Charles,  his  death  at  Belay  House,  107. 

Lepayre,  J.  M  ,  Butler  to,  on  bank  coin,  415. 

Lewis,  Major  William  B.,  his  activity  and  en- 
durance at  eighty,  225. 

Lewis,  the  transport,  iu  Biloxi  expedition.  215, 
207. 

Lieb,  Theodoras,  committed  to  Ship  Island,  44S. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  scheme  to  assassinate,  65; 
saluted  by  Seventh  Regiment,  93;  not  famil- 
iar with  Washington,  102;  promotes  Butler, 
117;  his  remarks  upon  special  recruiting,  1S1 ; 
consents  to  New  Orleans  expedition^  192; 
Butler  to,  on  leaving  for  New  Orleans,  194; 
bis  vole  in  New  Orleans  in  1S60,  253;  cheered 
by  negro,  267 ;  groans  for,  at  New  Orleans, 
26S;  his  instructions  to  Butler  respecting  ne- 
groes, 491 ;  annuls  Hunter's  proclamation  of 
freedom,  492;  Phelps  to,  on  arming  the  ne- 
groes. 498;  Butler  to,  on  free  labor  in  Louisi- 
ana, 525;  Butler  to,  on  his  recall,  597;  receives 
Butler,  613,  614 ;  bis  jokes,  629. 

Lively,  Mr.,  taken  prisoner.  154. 

Long,  Sergeant,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
573. 

Lopez,  General,  allusion  to,  256. 

Lord,  Mr.,  anecdote  of,  81. 

Louisiana,  the,  terror  of.  247,  24S;  blown  up,  250. 

Lovel,  General  Mansfield,  allusion  to,  209;  noti- 
fied of  Biloxi  expedition,  217;  to  Duncan,  237 ; 
brings  news  of  coming  fleet  to  New  Orleans, 
264 ;  interview  with  Bailey,  271 ;  leaves  New 
Orleans,  272;  his  proclamation  of  martial  law, 
296:  prepares  New  Orleans  for  defense,  316; 
his  troops  fed  from  New  Orieans,  329  ;  con- 
spiracy of  paroled  prisoners  to  join,  334 ;  in- 
cites guerillas,  560. 

Lowell  Advertiser,  anecdote  respecting,  27. 

Lowell,  its  origin  and  importance,  16;"the  But- 
lers removed  to.  16. 

Ludlow,  Colonel  W.  H.,  60S. 

Lynch,  Lieutenant  T.  L.,  reduced  to  the  ranks, 
55S. 


McClellan.  General  George  B.,  his  rank,  120;  com- 
mends Butler's  Texas  paper,  185;  why  he  did 
not  attack  in  fall  of  1S61,  1S9  ;  his  opinion  of 
New  Orleans  expedition,  191 ;  his  orders  to 
Butler.  192,491,551. 

MeCormick,  Dr.,  anecdotes  related  by,  25S-263 ; 
in  yellow  fever  at  New  Orleans,  39S;  in  his 
office,  590 ;  commended,  5S5. 

Macdonald,  private,  In  Biloxi  expedition,  214. 

McKean,  Commodore,  at  Ship  Island,  196,  197. 

Mack'.in,  S..428,  430. 

McLane,  Abraham,  ordered  for  execution,  347; 
reprieved,  351. 

McKinzie,  private,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Bouge,  572. 


McMillan,  General,  captures  the  Fox,  386,563; 
commended,  5S5. 

McNutt,  Captain,  at  battle  of  Great  Bethel,  146. 

Magce's  cavalry,  distinguished  at  Baton  Bouge, 
571. 

Matrinnis,  Jobn,  upon  Citizens'1  Bank  silver, 
364. 

Magruder,  Colonel  J.  B.,  correspondence  with 
Butler.  153,  154. 

Mallorv,  Colonel,  his  slaves  come  to  Fortress 
Monroe,  12ii,  128. 

Manassas  Junction,  Butler's  plan  to  seize,  105; 
battle  of,  167,  190. 

Manassas,  the  ram,  described,  223 ;  attacks  the 
Union  ileet,  242,  244,  247,  249. 

Manchac  Pass,  McClellan  upon,  194;  attacked 
by  Kimball,  565. 

Manners  Canal,  troops  enter  by,  249. 

Manning,  Captain  C.  H,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Ro<rue,  573. 

Manning,  J.  C,  428,  430. 

Manning's  Battery,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  570. 

Mariam,  Mr.,  taken  prisoner,  154. 

Marie,  Felicia,  the  case  of,  405. 

Martin,  Captain  K.  V.,  with  Eighth  Regiment,  74. 

Martin,  Lieutenant  Frederick,  in  the  Pass  Of- 
fice, 4S6;  relates  anecdotes  of,  4S8;  in  Pon- 
chatoula  expedition,  576,  577. 

Martineau,  Harriet,  quoted  upon  duelling  in 
New  Orleans.  259. 

Mason  and  Slidell,  in  Fort  Warren,  1S6;  given 
up,  1S9;  allusion  to,  314;  Butler's  mature 
opinion  respecting.  624. 

Mason,  John  M.,  in  Fort  Warren,  1S6 ;  given  up, 
1S9. 

Massachusetts  preparing  for  war,  59. 

Matthews,  Lieutenant,  interview  with  Butler  at 
Annapolis,  76,  78. 

Mejan,  Count  de,  applied  to  by  Hcidsicck,  360; 
his  complicity  with  Heidsieck,  362;  Conturio 
writes  to,  365;  his  detection  and  removal, 
377-382;  Butler  to,  on  the  sugar,  3S5;  to  But- 
ler on  oath,  456;  to  Weitzel,  on  disarming, 
463,  464. 

Mejan,  Madame  de,  bribed,  3S0. 

Me'mminger,  C.  G.,  retains  coin  of  New  Orleans 
banks,  416. 

Mercer,  Dr.,  pleads  for  Mumford,  351 ;  corre- 
spondence with  Butler  on  the  oath,  475. 

Mercer,  W.  N.,  Butler  to,  on  bank  coin,  415; 
to  Butler,  for  Bank  of  Louisiana,  421 ;  Butler 
to,  on  same,  422;  replv,  423. 

Merrimac,  the,  allusions" to,  209,  223,  232. 

Metcalf,  Adjutant  J.  H.,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Bouge,  573. 

Miami,  the,  in  the  running  by  the  forts,  23S; 
borrowed  by  Butler,  248. 

Miller,  Captain  Morris  J.,  advises  Butler  not  to 
land  at  Annapolis,  79 ;  Butler's  reply,  80. 

Miner,  W.  J.,  541. 

Mint  of  New  Orleans.  Farragut  orders  United 
States  flag  upon.  270,  272;  Hag  torn  from,  by 
Mumford,  275;  flag  again  hoisted,  27S. 

Mississippi  River,  number  of  its  outlets,  314. 

Mississippi,  the  ram,  explosion  of  at  New 
Orleans,  269. 

Mississippi,  the  sloop-of-war,  fires  into  the  fire- 
raft,  228 ;  allusion  to,  229 ;  runs  bv  the  forts, 
238,341,249;  Summers  flies  to,  277;  leaves, 
2S2. 

Mississippi,   the    transport,    voyage    to    Ship 


INDEX. 


645 


Island,  203;  at  New  Orleans.  270:  Mrs.  But-  i 
ler  leaves,  2S9;  ballasted  with  sugar, 

Mobile,  attack  upon  contemplated,  1S5,  104:  | 
supplies  New  Orleans  with  provisions.  So'J. ;  i 
attaek  upon  postponed,  551. 

Mobs,  cowardice  of,  287. 

Monitor,  the,  news  of  her  sinking  the  Merrimae, 
232:  Porter  sends  for,  24S. 

Motitreuil,  A.,  in  case  of  Durand,  423. 

Monroe,  Colonel  Timothy,  in  command  of 
Eighth  Regiment,  74. 

Monroe,  Horace  E.,  with  Eighth  Regiment.  74. 

Monroe,  John  T.,  his  proclamations  at  New 
Orleans,  268,  269;  interview  with  Bailey, 
270;  in  conflict  with  Farragut,  272-274; 
interview  with  Butler,  285 ;  addresses  mob, 
2S6;  second  interview,  290;  Butler  to,  on 
cleaning  the  streets,  304;  his  reply,  304; 
Butler  to,  on  French  fleet,  329  :  remonstrates 
against  woman  order,  331 ;  interviews  with 
Butler,  331-335;  committed  to  Fort  Jack- 
son, 335:  anecdote  of,  335;  allusion  to,  347. 

Montamal,  John,  case  of,  532. 

Montgomery,  Mr.,  complains  of  John  Andrew, 
539. 

Moore,  Thomas  Overton,  his  lineage,  220; 
abandons  New  Orleans,  265;  urges  burning 
of  cotton,  266;  passes  given  by,  314:  keeps 
cotton  from  New  Orleans,  315 ;  quoted  on  the 
woman  order,  339;  denounces  execution  of 
Mtimford.  352. 

Morris,  Captain,  sends  party  to  hoist  United 
States  flag  on  Mint  of  New  Orleans,  274. 

Morton,  acting-master,  commands  boat  at  New 
Orleans,  269. 

Mount.  William  S.,  his  notice  to  depositors,  418. 

Mount  Vernon,  the,  assists  the  Mississippi,  206, 
207. 

Hnmford,  W.  B.,  tears  down  United  States  flag 
from  Mint  of  New  Orleans,  275;  his  act  ex- 
plained to  Farragut,  277;  executed,  346,  351 ; 
allusion  to,  500 ;  Davis  upon,  607. 


Nast,  Thomas.    See  frontispiece. 

Negroes,  no  danger  of  their  rising.  9S,  99 ;  at 
Fortress  Monroe,  126-133,  16S-173 ;  serve 
on  Hatteras  expedition,  178;  regiment  of, 
refuse  to  leave  New  Orleans,  264;  welcome 
the  fleet,  267 ;  one  gives  information  of  hidden 
silver,  364  ;  in  provost  court  of  New  Orleans, 
432;  fears  of  their  rising,  464,  465;  number  of, 
in  Louisiana,  4S9;thc  free-colored  in  New  Or- 
leans, 489,  490;  the  president's  instructions 
respecting,  491 ;  Butler's  policy  respecting. 
492-495;  cruel  treatment  of,  494;  Phelps 
and  Butler  upon,  497-515 ;  Butler  to  Weit- 
zel,  on  free-colored  regiments,  518;  employed 
on  abandoned  plantations,  522 ;  contract  re- 
specting, 523:  results  of  free  labor.  525;  anec- 
dote of  one,  553 ;  Butler  upon  arming,  623  ;  in 
Lafourche,  5S0. 

NewhalL,  Captain  G.  T,  with  Eighth  Regiment, 
74. 

New  Hampshire  Patriot,  influence  of,  14. 

New  London,  the  gunboat,  in  Biloxi  expedition, 
215,217. 

New  Orleans,  Stanton  suggests  capture  of,  191; 
M"Clcllan,s  orders  respecting,  192;  plan  to 
reduce,  210;  its  defenses,  209,  219;  how  it 
embraced  secession.  253  ;  consequences  of  se- 
cession, 255;  its  politics,  256;  panic  in,  263- 


266,  26S;  will  not  surrender,  270-276:  land 
ing  of  troops  in,  280;  Butler's  measures  to 
feed,  300 ;  now  prepared  for  defense,  316 : 
women  of,  insult  Union  soldiers,  325;  rebels 
design  to  retake,  486.  565. 

Newport  News,  seized  by  Butler,  124, 126;  forti- 
fied, 133,  134;  Butler  advised  to  abandon,  168. 

Newton,  Frank,  executed,  447,  449. 

New  York  City,  politics  of,  256;  Butler  re- 
ceived in.  617. 

New  York  World,  quoted  upon  Butler,  616. 

Nickerson,  Colonel,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  570. 

Nim's"  battery,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge 
370. 

Ninth  Connecticut,  in  Biloxi  expedition,  215; 
distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge,  570. 

Noblett, "Captain,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
572. 

Norcross,  Lieutenant  F.  M.,  distinguished  at 
Baton  Rouge,  571. 


Oath  of  allegiance  in  New  Orleans,  450,  462, 
474,  4S1. 

OTJowd,  private,  in  Biloxi  expedition,  215. 

Old  Point  Comfort,  described,  122. 

Oneida,  the,  struck  from  Fort  Jackson,  232; 
runs  by  the  forts,  238,  241. 

Orders  issued  in  New  Orleans,  to  bring  provi- 
sions from  Mobile,  302;  to  run  Opelousas 
railroad.  302;  to  bring  provisions  from  Red 
River,  305;  to  distribute  food  among  poor, 
306;  to  sell  rations  to  poor,  306;  to  tax  the 
rich  for  support  of  the  poor,  309;  same  re- 
peated, 322;  to  annul  Davis's  fasting  procla- 
mation, 323;  to  arrest  insulting  women,  327; 
to  commit  mayor  of  New  Orleans,  331 ;  to  for- 
bid prayers  for  Davis,  337  ;  to  execute  Mum- 
ford,  346;  to  execute  six  paroled  prisoners, 
347;  to  admit  cotton  and  sugar  to  New  Or- 
leans, 408;  to  stop  circulation  of  Confederate 
notes,  417;  forbidding  banks  to  pay  them, 
419;  to  disclose  Confederate  property,  427; 
to  annul  rebel  confiscations.  431 ;  to  commit 
Mrs.  Philips,  441 ;  to  commit  Keller,  441 ;  to 
commit  Andrews,  442;  to  hang  robbers,  447; 
to  require  oath  of  allegiance,  4o0;  to  dissolve 
city  government,  452;  to  disarm  New  Orleans, 
406;  to  register  foreigners,  461,  469;  to  forbid 
transfers  of  property,  469 ;  to  describe  prop- 
erty,'473;  to  confiscate  dividends,  476;  to  ex- 
elude  negroes  from  Camp  Piraper,  497;  to 
work  abandoned  plantations,  522;  to  clear 
jails  of  negroes,  529 ;  to  keep  women  from 
quarters,  557  ;  to  prevent  pillage.  557 ;  to  pre- 
vent drinking,  558;  to  discharge  sutler,  558; 
to  promote  Wright,  558;  commending  good 
behavior  of  the  troops,  559;  to  commemorate 
Williams.  567;  to  commend  troops  at  Baton 
Rouge.  567,  568;  to  sequester  Lafourche,  581 ; 
farewell,  600. 

Orr,  James,  anecdote  of,  64. 

Ould,  Robert,  608. 

Overton,  Tho'm-s,  his  defense  of  Fort  St.  Philip, 
220. 

Owasca,  the,  opens  on  the  forts,  230;  in  the  run- 
ning by  the  torts,  238. 


Paesher  &.  Co.  subscribe  for  defense  of  New  Or- 
leans, 319 


646 


INDEX. 


Page,  Captain,  to  repair  levee,  496. 

Paige,    Captain,    guards    Summers  to   Custom- 

House,  2S9. 
Paine  Colonel,  lands  in  New  Orleans,  2S0. 
Palfrey,  Lieutenant  J.  C,  on  staff  of  Butler,  212. 
Palmerston,  Lord,  quoted  upon  the  woman  or- 
der, 341 ;  his  jokes,  629. 
Pardoning,  cruelty  of,  348. 

Parton,  James,  reference  to,  220;  threatens  the 
public  with  a  biography  of  Dr.  Franklin,  607. 
Pass  Christian,  expedition  to,  217. 
Pass  Office  at  New  Orleans  described,  485 ;  an- 
ecdotes of,  488. 
Pavne  Colonel,  commended,  5S5. 
Payne,  Huntington  &  Co.,  guarantee  Confeder- 
ate loan,  3S0. 
Payne,  Mr.,  in  Charleston  Convention,  48. 
Peck,  Major  F.H.,  upon  negroes  at  Camp  Parapet, 

497,  513 ;  hunts  guerillas,  574. 
Pendegrast,Commodore,  in  Hampton  Roads,  141. 
Pensacola,  attack  upon,  contemplated,  194 ;  an- 
other, 219 ;  cable  stolen  from,  2±1. 
Pensacola,  the,  protected  by  chain  armor,   225 ; 
runs  by, the  forts,  23S,  241 ;   party  from,  hoist 
flag  on  Mint,  274 ;  fires  upon  Mumford,  275. 
Perkins,  Captain,  distinguished  in  Lafourche, 

580 ;  commended,  5S5. 
Perkins,  Lieut.,  lands  at  New  Orleans  with  Bai- 
ley, 269. 
Pettigrew,  Mr.,  interview  with  Butler,  835. 
Phelps,  General  J.  W.,  at  Fortress  Monroe,  124 ; 
his  character,  125;  visits   Hampton,  126;  his 
abhorrence  of  pillage,   162;    interview   with 
Russell,  164;  goes  to  Ship  Island,  1S5;  at  Ship 
Island,  196,  197;   his  proclamation,  198;   his 
remarks  upon,  201;  anecdotes  of,  202;  com- 
mands a  brigade,  211;  commands  troops  at 
mouth  of  Mississippi,  248;  at  the  forts,  277; 
lands  alone  in  New  Orleans,  2S1 ;  visited  Oar- 
rollton,  2S3  ;  in  command  there,  298;  in  col- 
lision with  Butler  on  the  negro  question,  496- 
514;   appeals  to  the  president,  49S;   his  re- 
signation accepted,  514 ;  goes  home,  515. 
Philips,  Captain  R.,  with  Eighth  Regiment,  74. 
Philips,  Mrs.  P.,  committed  to  Ship  Island,  438, 

441,  5S7. 
Philips,  Philip,  apologizes  for  misconduct  of  his 

child,  441. 
Phillips,  Wendell,  allusion  to,  98;  quoted  upon 

contrabands,  127. 
Piaquet,  Adjutant,  to  Butler,  on  the  oath,  456. 
Picayune,   New  Orleans,  quoted  upon  tranquil- 
lity of  New  Orleans,  272 ;  upon  Mumford,  275. 
Pierce,  Engineer,  conversation  with  Kinsman, 

561. 
Pierce,  General  E.  W.,  desires  to  march  with 
first  troops,  69  ;  at  battle  of  Great  Bethel,  142- 
146 ;  his  subsequent  services,  152. 
Pillage,  suppressed  by  Butler,  161,   162  ;  com- 
mends troops  for  abstaining  from,   218;  for- 
bidden  in  New  Orleans,  280  ;  in  Louisiana,  557. 
Finola,  the,  attempts  to  blow  up  the  cable,  235; 

runs  by  the  forts,  239,  241. 
Point  la  Ilache,  fleet  off,  267.' 
Polk,  the  Right  Reverend  General,  forbids  clergy 

to  pray  for  president  of  United  States,  4S3. 
Pollard,  Ed.  A.,  his  account  of  Great  Bethel  140. 
Ponchatoula,  attacked  by  Strong,  576. 
Poore,  Major  Ben   Perley,  with  Eighth  Regi- 
ment, 74. 
Porter,  Admiral  "W.  D.,  preparing  bomb  ves- 
sels, 185  ;  his  part  in  the  attack  on  the  forts, 
210 ;  allusion  to,  222 ;  prepares  for  the  fire- 


rafts,  228  ;  bombards  forts.  227,  229,  232,  234, 
235,  240;  quoted  upon  the  Manassas,  247; 
withdraws  bomb  fleet,  24S.  Farragut  to, 
249;  receives  surrender  of  the  forts,  250; 
visits  them  with  Butler,  277,  reports  ram 
Arkansas,  565;  destroys  her,  568;  allusion  to, 
591. 

Porter,  Captain  Francis  E.,  with  Eighth  Regi- 
ment, 74. 

Port  Hudson,  conduct  of  the  colored  troops  at, 
521 ;  becomes  formidable,  551,  5S5. 

Port  Royal,  Butler  at,  207. 

Portsmouth,  the,  attempts  to  run  by  the  forts, 
238,  241. 

Preble,  private,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
573. 

Proclamations— Butler's,  at  Baltimore,  113; 
Phelps's,  at  Ship  Island,  19S ;  Butlers,  at  New 
Orleans,  printed.  282;  copy  of  same,  292; 
Davis's  against  Butler,  607. 

Professors  in  New  England  colleges,  remarks 
upon,  18. 

Public  schools  in  New  Orleans,  pupils  taught 
secession,  325 ;  reformed  by  Butler,  435. 

Puffer,  Captain  Alfred  F.,  signs  order,  434 ;  to 
Leacock,  480;  conducts  three  clergymen  to 
New  York,  4S4 ;  in  the  Pass  Office,  486 ;  quoted 
upon,  487. 

Pugh,  David,  in  conflict  with  negroes,  540. 

Punch,  quoted  upon  the  woman  order,  342. 


Quarantine  at  New  Orleans,  394-406. 


Ralph,  Lieutenant  A.  J.,  distinguished  at  Baton 

Rouge,  572. 
Reed,  General    Lee,  his  duel  with  Alston,  260; 

assassinated,  261 ;  in  another  duel,  262. 
Reed,  James,  helps  Mumford  tear  down  flag, 

275. 
Relay  House,  Butler  at,  106. 
Reichard,   General,  joins  rebel  army,  254,  316; 

allusion  to,  317,  819. 
Reichard,  Major,  428,  430. 
Renshaw,  Captain,  assists  Butler  at  Port  Royal, 

207;  attacks  fire-raft,  229. 
Reads,  Samuel,  with  Eighth  Regiment,  74? 
Richardson,  Captain  H.  H.,  with  Eighth  Regi- 
ment, 74 
Richmond  Examiner,  quoted  upon  Butler,  615. 
Richmond,  the,  how  protected,  225 ;  runs  by  tho 

forts,  238,  242. 
Rinaldo,  the,  at  New  Orleans,  392,  394 
Ritchie,  David,  rescues  flag  of  the  McClellan,67. 
Roanoke,  the,  case  of,  404. 
Roberts,  Colonel,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 

569. 
Rochereau  &  Co.,  protest  against  poor  tax  in 

New  Orleans,  319. 
Rodin,  Mr.,  votes  for  reception  of  French  fleet 

at  New  Orleans,  330. 
Rogers,  Corporal,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 

572. 
Rosecrans,   General  W.  S.,   allusion     to,    322; 

thinks  slavery  doomed.  52S. 
Rosier,  J.  A.,  pleads  for  paroled  prisoners,  349. 
Routine  in  New  Orleans,  586. 
Rowley,  private  R.  O.,  distinguished  at  Baton 

Rouge,  573. 
Boy,  Stanislaus,  executed.  447,  449. 
Rusgles.  General,  allusion  to,  209. 
Ruiz,  Senor,  not  for  secession,  254. 


LNDEX. 


647 


Russell,  "William  Howard,  upon  the  Yankee,  15; 

visits  Fortress  Monroe,  163. 
Ruasy,  Colonel,  advises  Butler,  124. 
Russey,  Lieutenant,    distinguished    at   Baton 

Rouge,  573. 


Sable  Island,  rendezvous  against  St.  Philip,  24S ; 
troops  leave,  277. 

St.  Charles's  Hotel,  seized  for  Butler,  2S4,  2S5; 
scenes  in,  285-498. 

Samson,  Captain,  joins  Sixth  Massachusetts,  67. 

Sandford,  H.  S.,  sends  intelligence  from  Brus- 
sels, 377,  379,  380. 

Sawyer,  Captain  S.  W.,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  574. 

Saxon,  the,  reaches  the  fleet  below  the  forts, 
232;  Butler  on  board,  239,  246;  before  New 
Orleans,  283, 

Sayers,  Thomas,  allusion  to,  356. 

Schouler,  General  William,  quoted  upon  Captain 
Dille  and  Captain  Samson,  67;  his  list  of 
Eighth  Regiment,  74 

Sciota,  the,  runs  by  the  forts,  239,  241. 

Scott,  George,  gives  information  of  the  Bethels, 
140 ;  in  the  battle,  142. 

Scott,  Lieutenant  General  Winfield,  allusion  to, 
79  ;  orders  Butler  to  remain  at  Annapolis,  93 ; 
remarks  upon,  100;  his  plan  to  take  Baltimore, 
105 ;  Butler  to,  from  Relay  House,  107, 109 ; 
replies,  109;  rebukes  Butler,  116;  recalls  him, 
117 ;  his  orders  to  Butler  on  his  going  to  Fort- 
ress Monroe,  120;  Butler  to,  126;  correspond- 
ence with  Butler  upon  Fortress  Monroe,  129, 
130,  133,  136;  orders  troops  from  Fortress 
Monroe,  167,  168;  appoints  Butler  to  com- 
mand department  of  New  England,  182. 

Seavy,  Sergeant  J.  N.,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  573. 

Secession,  remarks  upon,  59 ;  how  New  Orleans 
came  into,  253 ;  the  nature  of,  254 ;  incurable, 
322. 

Seelev,  Lieutenant  C.  D.,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  572. 

Seventh  Vermont,  at  battle  of  Baton  Rouge, 
570,  574 

Seward,  William  EL,  allusion  to,  50;  releases 
Winans,  117;  favors  expedition  to  Texas,  185; 
his  eiTor  respecting  woman  order  in  New  Or- 
leans, 326;  his  character,  355;  requests  re- 
lease of  Burrows,  859;  his  correspondence 
with  Van  Limburg  on  the  silver,  36S-371 ; 
Butler  to,  on  Fago  case,  470. 

Shaffer,  Colonel,  sends  free  sugar  to  president, 
525;  commended,  5S5. 

Shankey,  Captain,  receives  cloth  for  Confeder- 
ates, 378. 

Shepley,  General  George  F.,  commands  a  brig- 
ade at  Ship  Island,  211 ;  Butler  to,  on  cleaning 
the  streets  of  New  Orleans,  307;  assumes 
government  of  New  Orleans,  336;  forbids 
praying  for  Davis,  337;  appointed  military 
governor  of  Louisiana,  371 ;  issues  currency, 
423;  Mrs.  Larue  brought  before,  437;  his  or- 
der on  the  dissolution  of  city  government,  452 ; 
commended,  5S5;  in  his  office,  590. 

Sherman,  General,  recruiting  in  New  England, 
179,  181. 

Shields,  private,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
573. 

Ship  Island,  selected  for  a  rendezvous,  185;  de- 
scribed, 195;  historv  of,  196;  the  troops  there, 
197:  sand  of  as  ballast,  408. 


Shipley,  Captain,  sent  to  seize  silver,  365. 

Sisters  of  Charity  in  New  Orleans,  Butler 
commends,  321. 

Sixth  Massachusetts  battery,  lands  in  rear  of 
St.  Philip,  249;  lands  in  New  Orleans,  2S0; 
distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge,  570. 

Sixth  Massachusetts  militia,  leaves  Boston,  67; 
conflict  at  Baltimore,  70;  at  Relay  House, 
106;  enters  Baltimore,  111. 

Sixth  Michigan,  193  ;  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  570. 

Slavery;  Democrats  ignorant  of.  41,  99  :  its  cor- 
rupting influence,  125 ;  near  Fortress  Monroe, 
126 ;  Phelps  upon,  at  Ship  Island,  198  ;  its 
effects  upon  Southern  women,  324 ;  Phelps 
upon,  at  Camp  Parapet,  497-515;  doomed, 
527;  French  law  respecting,  529,  530;  English 
law  respecting,  531 ;  anecdotes  illustrative  of, 
532;  remarks  upon,  549;  Butler  upon,  in  fare- 
well address,  606 ;  in  New  York  speech,  618. 

Slidell,  John,  a  leading  conspirator,  60;  in  Fort 
Warren,  186  ;  given  up,  1S9  ;  his  house  lent 
to  Mrs.  Beauregard,  345;  confiscated,  467. 

Slocomb,  Mrs.,  Butler's  courtesy  to,  344. 

Smith,  Captain,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
573. 

Smith,  Dr.,  interferes  for  Jeff.,  536. 

Smith,  Edward  C,  ordered  for  execution,  347; 
reprieved,  351. 

Smith,  M.  L,  428,  430. 

Smith,  Samuel  &  Co.,  their  notice  to  depositors, 
417. 

Snow,  Sergeant,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
573. 

Soule,  Captain,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
573. 

Soule,  Pierre,  allusion  to,  58;  interview  with 
Bailey  at  New  Orleans,  270;  writes  mayor's 
letters,  273 ;  interview  with  Butler,  285 ;  his 
position  in  New  Orleans,  290;  described,  291 ; 
his  colloquy  with  Butler,  295,  296;  committed 
to  Fort  Warren,  338  ;  asks  for  continuance  of 
'Confederate  notes,  414. 

Spitzer,  Captain,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 
573. 

Stafford,  Colonel  S.  H.,  his  opinion  of  Butler, 
413 ;  arrests  robbers,  446  ;  closes  Hawkins's 
house,  462;  stops  negro  whipping,  492 ;  in  his 
office,  590. 

Stanley,  William,  ordered  for  execution,  347 ; 
reprieved,  351, 

Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  appointed  Secretary  of  War, 
189 ;  suggests  capture  of  New  Orleans.  191 ; 
his  last  words  to  Butler,  194;  Butler  to,  on 
poor  tax  in  New  Orleans,  314  ;  Butler  to,  on 
the  French  Consul,  378:  approves  Butler's 
course,  593;  asked  to  re-enforce  Butler,  596; 
receives  Butler,  614. 

Stead,  Rev.  B.  F.,  correspondence  with  Butler, 
161. 

Stephens,  Paran,  gives  breakfast  to  Eighth  Mas- 
sachusetts, 82. 

Stith,  Mr.,  on  French  fleet  at  New  Orleans,  330. 

Stoddard,  Sergeant  B.,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  573. 

Stowe,  Harriet  B.,  allusion  to,  98. 

Strike  in  Lowell,  opposed  by  Butler,  27. 

Stringham.  Commodore,  in  Hampton  Roads, 
124 

Strong,  General  George  C,  at  West  Point,  35  ; 
gives  information  respecting  recruitirg  con- 
troversy, 184;  joins  staff  of  Butler,  1SS;  in- 
trusted with  secret  of  Now  Orleans  expedi- 


648 


INDEX. 


tion,  193,  194;  attends  conference  on  Ship 
Island,  210:  announced  as  chief  of  staff,  212  ; 
commands  expeditions  to  Biloxi,  213,  215 ; 
views  the  running  by  the  forts.  24G;  landing 
in  New  Orleans,"  279 ;  demands  St.  Charles 
Hotel,  2S4;  fears  effect  of  woman  order,  327  ; 
p  i.rity  of  his  character,  412  ;  shuts  up  church, 
4S3;  interview  with  Goodrich,  4S5;  promoted. 
521 ;  receives  complaint  against  negroes,  540; 
reports  cruelty  of  Landry,  540  ;  allusion  to, 
549;  commands  expedition  against  Poncha- 
toula,  575;  commended,  5S5;  anecdote  of, 
590. 

Stuart,  Commodore,  conversation  with  Calhoun, 
39. 

Sturgis,  Acting-Master,  navigates  the  Missis- 
sippi to  Ship  Island,  20S. 

Summers,  ex-recorder,  flies  on  board  the  Mis- 
sissippi, 277 ;  conducted  to  the  St.  Charles, 
237;  to  the  Custom-House,  288. 

Sumner,  Charles,  Butler  calls  upon,  42  ;  allusion 
to,  9S. 


Talmadge,  Captain,  at  Fortress  Monroe,  167. 

Tangipaho  river,  Strong  ascends,  576;  inci- 
dent of,  577. 

Tapley,  Warren,  with  Eighth  Regiment,  74. 

Tappan,  Lewis,  Butler  to,  on  contrabands,  173. 

Tarsara,  Mr.,  Butler  confutes,  401,  403,  405. 

Taylor,  General  Joseph,  his  father's  sword 
restored  to,  46S. 

Taylor,  General  Richard,  allusion  to,  254. 

Taylor,  General  Zachary,  his  sword,  40S. 

Taylor,  Lieutenant,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Eouge,  571. 

Taylor,  Mrs.,  contributes  to  Delta,  435. 

Ten  hour  ticket,  36. 

Tennessee,  favorable  to  longevity,  225. 

Tenncy,  Lieutenant  J.  F.,  distinguished  at 
Baton  Eouge,  571. 

Teryaghi,  B.,  to  Butler,  on  the  oath,  456. 

Texas,  expedition  to,  contemplated^  1S5,  596. 

Times,  New  York  (Daily),  quoted  upon  Bal- 
timore, 102 ;  upon  Wool  and  Butler,  175 ; 
upon  Phelps's  proclamation,  198  ;  upon  the 
fire-rafts,  229,  231  :  upon  the  running  by, 
239;  upon  Colonel  Thorpe,  30S  ;  upon  "negro 
in  a  bad  fix,  534 ;  upon  Sheplcy,  5S9. 

Thayer,  Sergeant,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Eouge,  573. 

Thirteenth  Connecticut,  its  good  health  in 
New  Orleans,  401. 

Thirtieth  Massachusetts,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Eouge,  570. 

Thirty-first  Massachusetts,  lands  in  New  Or- 
leans, 2S0  ;  firmness  of  a  company  of,  2S9. 

Thomas,  Colonel  S.,  captures  cattle,  575;  com- 
mended, 5S5. 

Thomas,  General  E.  D.,  signs  Butler's  recall, 
599. 

Thompson,  General  Jeff,  to  Butler,  on  the  con- 
fiscations, 474  ;  Strong  attempts  to  capture, 
576  ;  correspondence  "with   Butler,   631-631. 

Thorne,  Captain,  commended,  5S5. 

Thornhill,  Virginia*,  his  letter  to  Butler,  533. 

Thornton.  Captain,  wounded,  57C,  578,  631-634. 

Thorpe,  Colonel  T.  B.,  City  Surveyor  of  New  Or- 
leans, 30S ;  cleans  streets,  30S ;  completes  bat- 
ture,  309. 

Thugs  of  New  Orleans,  cause  of  their  supremacy, 
256,  257;  threaten  to  destroy  New  Orleans, 
254 ;  the  True  Delta  upon,  299 ;  employed  by 


mayor  to  keep  order,  329 ;  resolved  to  assaa 
sinate  Butler  for  Mumford.  347. 

Townsend,  Colonel  F.,  at  battle  of  Great  Bethel, 
143, 145. 

Tribune,  New  York,  discloses  opinion  of  An- 
drew, ISO;  office  attacked, 287. 

True  Delta,  refuses  to  print  proclamation,  282 ; 
comments  upon  seizure  of  office,  2S2;  sus- 
pended and  resumes,  2S3 ;  comments  on  the 
proclamation,  299;  quoted  on  Citizens'  Bank, 
364,  376. 

Trull,  Lieutenant,  distinguished  at  Baton  Eouge, 
570. 

Turnbull,  Lieutenant  C.  N.,  on  staff  of  Butler, 
212;  in  Biloxi  expedition,  215. 

Turner,  Colonel  J.  W.,  commended.  5S5. 

Twelfth  Connecticut,  lands  in  New  Orleans,  281, 

Twenty-first  Indiana,  193;  distinguished  at 
Baton  Eouge.  570. 

Twenty-sixth  Massachusetts,  lands  in  rear  of 
St.  Philip.  249  ;  garrisons  Fort  Jackson,  277. 

Twiggs,  General,  flies  from  New  Orleans.  264 , 
keeps  cotton  from  New  Orleans,  315;  his 
house  taken,  344,  467;  his  swords,  467,  468, 
615. 

Tyler,  private,  distinguished  at  Baton  Eouge, 
571,  573. 


Union  Ladies'  Association  of  New  Orleans,  431. 
Universal  suffrage,  evil  effects  of,  256. 
Usher,  Eoland  G.,  with  Eighth  Eegiment,  74. 


Yan  Burcn,  Martin,  predicts  evil  results  of  uni- 
versal suffrage,  256. 

Van  Limbing,  his  correspondence  with  Seward, 
on  the  silver,  368. 

Varuna,  the,  runs  by  the  forts,  23S,  241 ;  in  bat- 
tle with  the  enemy's  fleet,  243. 

Vicksburg,  Butlers  attempts  to  take,  551- 
555. 

Villers,  Baron,  allusion  to,  379. 

Virginia  Antoinette,  the,  case  of,  405. 

Vogel,  Mrs.,  subscribes  for  the  defense  of  New 
Orleans,  317,  319. 

Volunteer,  the,  aided  by  Butler,  402. 


Wachter,    Sergeant,    distinguished    at    Baton 

Eouge,  573. 
Wainwrisrht,   Captain,  in  the  running   by  tho 

forts,  245. 
Ward,  S.  M.,  428,  430. 
Wardrop,  Colonel,  lends  his  sword  to  Winthrop, 

150. 
Warren,    General    G.   K.,   at   battle   of  Great 

Bethel,  145,  146. 
Washington,  George,  remarks  upon,  100. 
Waterville  College,  attended  by  Butler,  18. 
Weber,    Colonel"  Max,   posted   near   Fortress 

Monroe,  166. 
Webster.  Daniel,  his  complexion,  517. 
Weed,  Charles  A.,  employed  to  work  abandoned 

plantations,  522. 
Wellington,  Duke  of,  allusions  to,  101,  161. 
Wells,  Captain  H.  C,  distinguished  at  Baton 

Eouge,  571. 
Westfield,  the,  attacks  fire-raft,  229;  in  the  run- 
ning by  the  forts,  238. 
West  Point,  young  Butler  prefers,  17;  remarks 

upon,  17;    allusion   to,    178;    excellence  of, 

1S8. 


INDEX. 


649 


Weitzel,  General  Godfrey,  joins  Butler's  staff, 
1S8;  intrusted  with  secret  of  New  Orleans 
expedition,,  193,  194;  at  conference  on  Ship 
Island,  210*;  announced,  212;  quoted  upon 
the  two  forte,  ril ;  his  advice  to  the  naval 
officers,  239;  views  the  running  by,  246; 
lands  troops  in  rear  of  St.  Philip,  2-19  ;"  his  re- 
port upon  effect  of  bombard  incut,  251;  re- 
pairs forts,  277;  assistant  military  command- 
ant of  New  Orleans.  427 ;  his  card  on  Do  Kay's 
funeral,  439;  his  report  respecting  Baton 
Rouge,  463 ;  French  consul  to,  on  disarming. 
463;  allusion  to,  507;  Butler  to,  on  colored 
regiments.  51$;  his  promotion,  521;  in  La- 
fourche, 526;  surveys  Vicksburg,  554;  con- 
quers Lafourche,  5S0 ;  commended,  5s5. 

Whaun.  Mr.,  Interview  with  Butler,  335. 

Wheldon,  Lieutenant-Colonel.  Butler  to,  on  sup- 
port of  families  of  his  troops,  187. 

"Whitcomb,  Lieutenant  G.  F.,  sent  to  Contune, 
866;  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge,  572. 

"Whiting,  Mr.,  taken  prisoner,  154. 

"Whittemore,  Major,  distinguished  at  Baton 
Rouge,  570. 

Wiegel,  Lieutenant  W.  H.,  on  staff  of  Butler, 
212 ;  pioneers  troops  to  Custom-House  of  New 
Orleans,  280. 

"Wilkinson,  General  James,  allusion  to,  292, 
296. 

"Williams,  General  Thos..  arrives  at  Ship  Island, 
203,  204;  commands  a  brigade,  211 ;  ordered  to 
Sable  Island,  24s ;  left  in  command  there,  250; 
leaves  Sable  Island,  277;  lands  in  New  Or- 
leans, 280;  in  conilict  with  the  mob,  2S6;  com- 
mands at  Baton  Rouge,  29S ;  views  Vicksburg, 
554;  falls  at  Baton  Rouge,  566,  567,  569,  5s5. 

"Williams,  George  L.,  ordered  for  execution,  347  ; 
reprieved.  351. 

"Wilson,  Captain,  at  Great  Bethel,  146. 

"Wilson,  Henry,  Butler  advises  to  warn  Gov- 
ernor Andrew,  65;  telegraphs  for  troops,  67; 
Butler  telegraphs  to,  68";  his  reply,  69  ;  asks 
for  re-enforcements  for  Butler,  596. 


Winans,  Ross,  his  treason,  110;  arrest,  116;  But- 
ler designs  to  try,  117. 
Winthrop,  John,   Major    Winthrop  descended 

from,  149. 
Winthrop,  Major  Theodore,  quoted  upon  Eighth 

Ma^-s..  75;  asks  Butler  for   employment,  87 ; 

quoted,  upon  the  march  to   Washington,  92; 

quoted,  upon  Fortress  Monroe,  122;  upon  the 

contrabands,  127;  at  Fortress  Monroe,   130; 

suggests  attack   upon  the  two   Bethels,  140, 

141;  in  the  battle,  143;  his  death,   145;   his 

character,  149. 
Winthrop,  Mrs.,  Butler  to,  on  her  son's  death 

150. 
Winona,    the,   in  expedition  to  cut   the  cable. 

235;  attempts  to  run  by  the  forts,  239,  241. 
Winslow,  Chaplain,  at  battle  of  Great  Bethel, 

146. 
"Winter,  Captain,  attacks  Ponchatoula,  576, 
Wissahickon,  the,  runs  by  the  forts,  238, 241. 
Woman  order,  the,  324-343. 
"Wolfe,  Genera],  Captain  Butler  serves  under,  13. 
Women,  morally  equal  to  men,  324. 
"Wood,  Corporal,  distinguished  at  Baton  Rouge, 

573. 
Wool,  General  John  E.,  supersedes  Butler,  175; 

gives  appointment  to  Butler,  177. 
Wright  and  Allen,  in  Fago  rase.  470. 
Wright,  Edward,  his  lying  letter,  443. 
Wright  Henry  C,  commissioned  from  the  ranks, 

558. 


Yankees,  character  of,  14, 15;  Southerners  hate, 
140;  hated  by  women  of  New  Orleans,  325; 
their  respect  for  women,  32S;  allusion  to, 
412. 

Yeadon,  Richard,  offers  reward  for  killing  But- 
ler, 612. 

Yellow  fever,  its  ravages  at  New  Orleans  in 
1S53,  394,  397;  Butler's  measures  against,  S9S- 
406. 


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